Feathers fly in dispute at chicken rice stall

A HAWKER running a well-known chicken rice stall at Adam Road has stopped operating there after 12 years, citing high rental.

He also alleges the stall owner had been illegally subletting the space to him for 12 years.

The owner has reportedly rented out the stall to a new hawker, who still operates under the same signboard.

Yong Chai Hainanese Chicken Rice, which has more than 20 years of history, originally had branches at Coronation Road, Farrer Road and Adam Road and is quite renowned in the Bukit Timah area, Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

Hawker Yun Changrong, 53, told Wanbao that he began renting the stall at Adam Road Food Centre 12 years ago. He said the original monthly rental of $1,700 was raised several times, until it hit $3,700 last year.

As his operation costs were high, Mr Yun asked for a $500 decrease in rental but could not come to an agreement with the stall owner.

He told Wanbao: "The business at Adam Road had not been good and I needed to hire two workers. We didn't earn much at all.

"The stall owner would not cut the rent so I had no choice but to stop my business there last month."

He said he reported the illegal subletting to the authorities at the start of the month.

Stall owner Huang Zhencheng, 79, admitted that he had received inquiries from the authorities.

He explained that he and Mr Yun were collaborators and he did not sublet the stall illegally.

"I collaborated with him. He managed the stall, (I) took over $2,000 per month.

"The rent was about $1,500 and earnings were more than $1,000 monthly," said Mr Huang.

He stressed that he charged only over $2,000 and not $3,700.

Mr Yun said he discovered a new hawker selling chicken rice in his place, with the same signboard.

Wanbao visited the stall on Saturday and found that the signboard was the old one, although a Chinese New Year sticker had been pasted over the Chinese name.

The English name Yong Chai Hainanese Chicken Rice was not covered.

The chairman of Hougang Village Merchants' Association, Sun Jiahe, told Wanbao that it was fairly common for pioneer-generation stall owners to look for a "partner" to handle the stall for them and draw income from the tie-up.

According to regulations, full-day subletting is not allowed for new stall owners who rent stalls from the Government.

The Government had given stall vendors operating under such illegal conditions three years to make arrangements but this grace period ended in March last year.

Stall owners had to operate the stalls themselves and halt the illegal subletting by that deadline.

Mr Huang is a pioneer-generation stall owner, one of those who sold street food in the 1970s and 1980s and later moved into government-built hawker centres or food centres.

He has run a business at Adam Road Food Centre for almost 40 years and said he has delayed returning the stall to the Government as he is worried about not having enough money to retire.

The father of four daughters added that he now helps out at the stall as the current hawker is new.

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