Hawker centre with 24-hour section to open in Hougang

First of 20 new hawker centres will open in Hougang in August 2015: NEA
By Audrey Tan, The Straits Times, 9 Jun 2015

RESIDENTS of Hougang will soon get a new food haunt, when a hawker centre with a 24-hour section opens at the Ci Yuan Community Club in August - a first for a hawker centre here.

The centre, located within the upcoming community club in Hougang Avenue 9, will have 40 cooked-food stalls, and can seat up to 640 people, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement yesterday.

Of the 40, about 10 stalls selling beverages and food items such as porridge and laksa will be open 24 hours, Mr Tan Kim Siong, group managing director of Fei Siong Food Management, told The Straits Times.

The NEA has appointed Fei Siong as the managing agent for the new centre, which will be run on a not-for-profit basis. The centre will have two stalls offering food items with lower prices to serve as a benchmark for the other stalls. This ranges from 80 cents for a cup of coffee to $2.80 for a bowl of fishball noodles.

The other 38 stalls are required to provide at least two food items within a specific price range based on Fei Siong's price guidelines.

The hawker centre is the first of 20 new ones the Government has pledged to build.

In March, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, which oversees the NEA, said it will build 10 more hawker centres over the next 12 years in a bid to moderate hawker rentals and keep food prices affordable.

This is on top of the 10 hawker centres in 10 years that it had committed in 2011 to build.

The NEA said: "Residents can look forward to enjoying affordable food at the new centre, which will also be equipped with tray return facilities, natural ventilation and family-friendly features such as child-friendly toilet facilities and family-friendly seating."

Said Hougang resident Jason Ng, 25, an investment bank analyst: "The new hawker centre will mean a wider selection of food, and the 24-hour section will make going out for supper more convenient, too.

"Currently, we have to drive out to Kovan or Ang Mo Kio for 24-hour food options."

On managing potential noise arising from the 24-hour section, Fei Siong's Mr Tan said the 10 stalls would be located in a designated section of the hawker centre. There would also be a dedicated management team to oversee operations round the clock.