CABBY J Ismail did a double-take when he heard how much rent his passenger pays for operating a school tuckshop stall selling rice and dishes.
How could it be that she is charged only $10.50 a month?
His wife pays $450 monthly for a noodle stall in a different school.
Both stalls are about the same size and located in secondary schools. So why does one cost more than 40 times as much to rent as the other?
The answer lies in the two different stall rental systems schools here employ.
In the past, schools rented their stalls out directly at low rates.
When the Single Tender System was introduced in 1986, a school could opt to 'outsource' the management of its tuckshop to a single contractor. This could in turn lead to higher rents if contractors sublet the stalls.
But there have been forum letters asking for these stalls to be reserved for the needy to earn a living.
RAISED IN PARLIAMENT
This suggestion was also brought up in Parliament by South-west District Mayor Amy Khor in 2005 and 2006.
Dr Khor's own family relied on operating a tuckshop stall when her father was retrenched in 1970.
Should stall rents be kept low to help the lower-income group?
Mrs Ismail's $450 monthly rent is set by the contractor who won the tender to run that school's tuckshop stalls.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education (MOE) said contractors need approval from the school to sublet the stalls.
She said: 'The rent that the single operator charges the sub-tenant is solely between the two parties.'
Schools rent stalls out directly under the Individual Stallholder System.
Government-aided and independent schools set their own rental rates. The rent collected is managed by the Board of Management.
For government schools, rental rates are between $5 and $15.
A stallholder, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Ng, 48, rents her sandwich stall directly from a secondary school for $10.50 a month.
In a good month, she says her profit is about $1,000. But that dips to $200 in bad months, like during the fasting month and exam periods.
She also doesn't earn any income during the June and December holidays. But she doesn't pay rent.
TREATS POOR STUDENTS
But she can still 'treat' two to three students who can't afford to pay to a sandwich or kueh every day.
For Mrs Ismail, 44, her profit is about $600 in a good month. In a bad month, she suffers a loss.
She said: 'The contractor can increase our rent, but we can't increase the prices we charge our students. Now, our supplies cost more after the increase in GST.'
The School Tuckshop Committee of every school sets and monitors food prices, the MOE spokesman said.
Currently, 79 per cent of all schools - excluding polytechnics and ITEs - rent their stalls out directly.
The remaining 21 per cent, or about one in five schools, rely on contractors to run their tuckshop stalls.
Some contractors run more than one tuckshop as there are about 50 contractors with tenders for 76 schools.
Enquiries by The New Paper found that rents charged by contractors ranged from $400 to $600 a month.
An indignant Mr Ismail, 48, wanted to know why school tuckshops have become 'commercialised'.
But the MOE spokesman said stallholders and contractors are selected based on their 'ability to cater to the needs of students'.
This means providing food and drinks which meet the nutritional standards of the Health Promotion Board, being hygienic and providing good service at reasonable prices.
For government schools, the rent collected under both systems is 'government revenue'.
Since tuckshop stalls are not rented out for profit, Dr Khor, 49, is all for reserving them for the 'chronic unemployable', people who cannot find jobs despite job-matching efforts.
The MP for Hong Kah GRC would have two to five people a month appealing for a tuckshop stall.
She said they usually fall into these three groups:
- Able-bodied elderly couples who are childless or whose children are unable to support them.
- Widows and divorcees with young children.
- Families where both parents have little education and no skills.
Dr Khor said: 'While we want everyone to be self-reliant, there are some who will need the Government to give them a leg up to achieve some degree of financial independence.
'This could be the opportunity to run a business after skills training.'
But renting stalls out directly means more administrative work for schools.
Madam Ng Ngoing Keng, the principal of Yuying Secondary School, said schools have to mediate if stallholders' have disputes.
She said: 'But renting stalls out directly encourages ownership. The competition keeps them on their toes to ensure the food is well-done.'
Hua Yi Secondary School principal Mabel Leong said a single vendor running the canteen means there is control over food quality and pricing.
She said: 'At a previous school, I was horrified that stallholders did not observe hygiene practices and cut costs by using castaway boxes to store food.
'Giving stallholders lower rentals may not guarantee that students' well-being will be taken care of.'
Source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg
Should school canteens be run only by needy? 
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