Raw-fish stalls close, tweak menu after bacteria scare
Mr Lim Siew Leong, the 70-year-old owner of Jiu Ji porridge stall at Chinatown Complex Market, still sells raw-fish porridge, but said that business had dropped by 60 to 70 per cent. Photo: Stacey Lim/TODAY
SINGAPORE — In the wake of new guidelines that hawkers must comply with to keep selling raw-fish dishes, those interviewed by TODAY expect the prospects for selling this mainstay of their menus to remain dismal. Some also felt that there should be more scrutiny of suppliers of raw fish.
The new guidelines, issued by the National Environment Agency (NEA), came after investigations by the Ministry of Health found a definite link between eating these dishes and Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection.
Some hawker stalls selling raw-fish dishes have already stopped operating in the wake of earlier reports about such links a few months ago, while others are depending on selling other dishes to keep their businesses float.
TODAY’s visits to several food centres yesterday (Nov 28) showed that some of the hawker stalls known for selling raw-fish dishes were either closed or not selling raw fish anymore.
Mr Lim Siew Leong, the 70-year-old owner of Jiu Ji porridge stall at Chinatown Complex Market, still sells raw-fish porridge, but said that business had dropped by 60 to 70 per cent.
“People are scared, but the die-hard customers still come,” said Mr Lim, who has been operating his stall for the past 40 years.
Although fish reared in ponds are “one to four times cheaper”, Mr Lim said he has always been buying fish caught from the sea from Jurong Fishery Port, an international port for foreign fishing vessels to land their fish catch, so that he can assure his customers they are being served better-quality fish.
Some hawkers told TODAY that they had been observing the recommended hygiene practices, and felt that fish suppliers should also come under scrutiny.
Mr Koh Tong Hien, 58, who manages a stall at Tekka Market with his wife, suggested the delivery trucks carrying raw fish should be examined.
“It is quite odd for a porridge stall to stop selling raw fish, it is something people look for to eat with their porridge, just like how some prefer peanuts or chicken meat,” he said.
Mr Koh has just started selling fish head bee hoon as well to make up for the drop in demand for his raw-fish porridge dishes.
Mr Kiang Choon Tong, owner of Soon Heng Pork and Fish Porridge at Amoy Street Food Centre, said the NEA should have given hawkers more time and introduced hygiene standards for suppliers of raw fish instead of banning hawkers from selling raw-fish dishes unless they comply with the guidelines.
Mr Kiang, who said he is now earning S$200 to S$300 less a day, added: “There’s nothing we can do but to stop selling the raw fish.”
