A desire to preserve Singapore’s hawker traditions and pass down the distinct culinary skills to the next generation has propelled Fei Siong’s Group Managing Director Tan Kim Siong (left) and his team to work together with NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to develop an “Entrepreneur Programme” (EP) to help train Singaporean job seekers hired by the company to run their own food stalls.
The programme sees selected employees being paid a monthly salary while they learn the essential skills necessary to successfully operate a hawker stall. Although these stalls are corporately owned by Fei Siong, staff earn the sales profits like business owners.
“It’s about giving the workers an opportunity to work for themselves. And despite the demands of the work, these workers will be able to see the results of what they’re working for and give them an opportunity to make a breakthrough.
“As long as we’re able to groom new hawkers, it’s considered a success for the programme,” said Mr Tan.
Mr Joe Sng, personal assistant to Mr Tan, had also worked closely with e2i to design and implement the EP within Fei Siong. There are a total of 18 such stalls at the 40-stall Ci Yuan hawker centre managed by Fei Siong Food Management in Hougang.
Mr Ng was also largely involved in the company’s decision to tap on e2i’s Inclusive Growth Programme that allowed them to look into re-designing the work environment to make it safer and more conducive for workers. The revised processes helped improve productivity and benefitted workers.
“It’s a more focused approached for the workers at the stall. This streamlines the processes, freeing them up to focus on what’s most important, which is preparing and cooking the food well for their customers,” said Mr Tan.
