I AM a hawker. The public complain that we do not lower our prices. But if our suppliers sell food items to us at a higher price, how can the public expect us to sell cooked food at a lower price?

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Smaller portions lor. Then have the normal portion as "supersize" option.

After Renovation Prices Will Go Up 20%---blame How Think For Yourself.

Raw material accounts for only one (small) part of the hawker's cost. How many pratas can one make from 25kg ($37) of flour?

I think the main cost for hawkers are labour and rental. Have these gone up drastically?

when was "previously"?

have you fully declared all your taxable income as a hawker? Are you willing to earn less as other workers are taking a pay cut? Hiring foreign workers means can lower your price or means you earn more?

i believe most customers can accept smaller portions of food/lesser incredients for the same price.

However, when the prices start to go up, customers will be turned off.

I used to frequent this restaurant near Heartland mall, where they sell their dishes at around $4.50 each. Quality of food quite reasonable too. Business was very very good then.

Then, they decided to increase their prices. A few months later, it had to close down due to a lack of business.

If what is reported is true, surely we cannot blame the hawkers.
But why are prices still up when things like fuel are down? Perhaps, because utilities like electricity are still up until at least Jan 09

Simple... All suppliers and middlemen belong to a cartel. And to add to the hawkers' problem, now the numbskull scholarly policy-makers in the government service are so "financially savvy" and arrogant that they always prefer to tag the rental of public assets (such as hawker stall) to the same level as the market rate. With that, they still have the nerve to declare that the government is kind enough to subsidise this and that (all the small stuff). It's all a smoke screen. If the intention is really to help the poorer hawkers, why should hawker stall rentals be pegged to market rate?

It's reasonable to increase since prices of most things had gone up. But what we noticed in many places is that they increased prices and and still reduced the portion (like some shores at Redhill hawker centre)! Some even dare to charge higher when prices are listed. Tried out the yen-tau-fu store at Redhill hawker center and you'll know what I mean. I've to resort to telling them how many pieces and yet price is always 1 piece (30 cents) higher. Beware!