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Located in the heart of Bukit Batok, Yan Huang Coffee Shop had been serving customers for just a few months before its sudden closure in February this year.
The coffeeshop was known for its relatively affordable prices, and this news came as a shock to residents who often frequented it.
When I went down there to see for myself, there were lawyer letters stuck on the shutters citing that the tenant, Heng Jiu F&B Pte Ltd, had breached the tenancy agreement and would no longer be allowed to operate in the area.
No further details were given, other than another notice stuck on the shutters, which listed food stalls available for rent, including vegetarian options, nasi pandang, Western and more.
In recent years, a shocking number of eateries have closed. A significant factor behind these closures is to the rising cost of rent.
When rental costs increase, there is more pressure on stallholders, many of whom are family-run businesses with thin margins after accounting for rent, manpower, ingredient costs and more.
For many operators, especially those selling classic hawker dishes such as chicken rice, laksa, nasi lemak, it is a challenge to keep prices affordable while also being able to profit from them and paying off the costs of running a hawker stall. Given the increase in new cafes and restaurants in the surrounding areas, this leads to lower foot traffic.
Hence, it has become increasingly important for us to support our local hawkers and to preserve our hawker culture.
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