No crowds yet but hawkers hopeful as more can dine in at some markets

SINGAPORE: Ms Chua Jia Hui, a young hawker in her 20s, was moving constantly to dish up duck noodles and kway chap for a stream of customers as she answered questions from this reporter.

Ms Chua, who runs Kim Kitchen Braised Duck at Beo Crescent Market, said she was "very happy" to hear that Beo Crescent was one of 11 hawker centres where vaccinated people can dine in groups of five from Tuesday (Nov 23).

"We earn more when more people can share the kway chap, rather than order one or two portions," she said, all smiles.

While crowds have yet to manifest at the market on a weekday morning, she hopes to see more diners over the weekend.

It was busy but also not crowded over at Tiong Bahru market, and check-in was smooth at the entry points with patrons tapping in with their mobile phones. 

Those who wanted to dine in were offered stickers to indicate that they were vaccinated while those who were taking away food did not need one.

Mr Loh Teck Seng, who heads the Tiong Bahru Market Association, said that when two could dine in, the seating capacity at the market was only about a third of that before the COVID-19 pandemic.

He's glad that now, with groups of five vaccinated diners allowed, the capacity has increased to 55 per cent.

About half of the tables at the four markets CNA visited were still sealed off to maintain a distance of at least 1m between groups of diners.

An initial group of 11 hawker centres and seven coffee shops have been given the green light to welcome bigger groups from Tuesday, as vaccination status checks need to be put in place.

The coffee shops are: Barfood & Co, Goodyear Restaurant, Qi Xiang, B4RI, The Patio, Satay By The Bay and Makansutra Gluttons.

Apart from Beo Crescent Market and Tiong Bahru Market, the other nine hawker centres are: Bedok Food Centre, Geylang Serai Market, Holland Village Market & Food Centre, Market Street Interim Food Centre, Sembawang Hills Food Centre, Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre, Ci Yuan Hawker Centre, Hawker Centre @ Our Tampines Hub and Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre.

Other hawker centres are expected to have entry checks by Nov 30. Until then, they can only have groups of two fully vaccinated diners.

Diners at Tiong Bahru Market and Bedok Food Centre told CNA that they specially arranged to meet their friends there so that they could eat together. 

At Geylang Serai Market, Mr Samsudin Mohamad, 57, his wife, son and father wanted to have a meal together but ended up sitting at two separate tables.

When asked why, he said that they were still unsure if they were allowed to sit together.

"Usually we tapao or call delivery," he said. "Actually we heard the news can eat together five persons, so we come down ... but not sure, we're scared in case anything happen."

Hawkers at Geylang Serai also hope to see business pick up with the relaxation of safe management measures.

Mr Zulkifli Osman, who runs Alrahman Kitchen, said that he saw more people visiting the market and dining in on Tuesday morning.

Before, people would "bungkus" or pack their food, he said, adding with a laugh: "Sometimes they just walk about only lah."

He said that the vaccination-differentiated measures to allow more diners should help businesses there but hopes that more seats and tables can be opened up.

"(Business was) very bad. We still survived on the rental rebate but if no rebate, I don't know how many people returned the shop already."