News

By August, two of Singapore’s remaining night vegetable markets will be closed for good ( March 25; and Feb 19). While the closure of these night vegetable markets might be insignificant to the overall local food supply chain, there are people, especially the lower-income, who rely on these markets as a convenient and cheap source of groceries. These markets serve as an important source of income for the already dwindling number of sellers. The authorities are identifying suitable relocation sites with shelter and proper facilities where the vendors can continue their businesses. Relocating them to places such as the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre would be hard on their operations as they have to re-establish their customer base. Customers would also be disadvantaged by higher prices resulting from additional costs incurred by sellers when relocating. Perhaps more can be done to support the sellers and their regular patrons by relocating the markets to other spaces nearby which are under-utilised at night, such as similar roads or open-air carparks, and even wet markets. Wet market stalls could possibly operate on a dual-tenancy model, where night vegetable sellers can conduct their business through the night. Complementing night vegetable markets with late-night hawker centres would also enrich the night culture of the area, which would in turn attract people from other parts of Singapore.