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In a Facebook post dated 16 Feb 2025, Twelve Hainanese Chicken Rice solemnly announced that they were closing on 28 Feb 2025, and thanked their customers for their “unwavering support, loyalty and love”.
Located at Kukoh 21 Food Centre, Twelve Hainanese Chicken Rice is known among its patrons for having tender and moist chicken, along with a potent and fiery homemade chilli that many reviewers have touted as being unique. They also have a stall under the same name in Vietnam!
Multiple reviews also spoke highly of the accommodating and friendly stall owner, who they know as Uncle Gilbert. The chicken is thoughtfully deboned before served, and they also dish up a pretty affordable set containing 2 portions of roasted and steamed chicken at just S$7.50 for 1 pax.
In the comments of a post on Gilbert’s own personal Facebook, he replied to a comment asking for the reason of the closure, citing a rental dispute with the landlord. As a result, he decided that they would close before the coming month.
Unfortunately, this is not the first instance we’ve heard of rental disputes or hikes causing hawkers to close up shop and exit the business. Even Michelin-starred restaurants, such as Sushi Kimura, are not safe from rising rental prices – the restaurant shuttered Nov 2024 on the back of “rising rental and manpower costs”.
KF Seetoh of Makansutra has also written a scathing article detailing the different charges and extra fees hawkers need to pay to operate their businesses.
In Nov 2024, NEA announced a revision of the rental renewal policy for hawker stalls in order to avoid overly high bids, but whether it will have a positive effect on controlling stall rental prices remains to be seen. Until then, we may see more of our beloved hawkers shuttering their stalls, and our culinary scene shall be the poorer for it.
The end for Old World? Yishun bak kut teh hawker closing end Feb, searching for successor
