NEA explains ‘archaic’ zhi char rule for hawkers

SINGAPORE – The “restaurant type” dishes stated in licensing conditions for cooked food stalls refer to “zhi char” dishes, and hawker stall owners can sell them if they show the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) they have the right equipment for such stalls, the agency said today (Jan 14).

The NEA issued this response to media queries after Environment and Water Resources Minister yesterday announced the removal of an “archaic” ruling stating that “no restaurant type of dishes shall be sold unless the licensee has been authorised to do so in writing by the Director-General of Public Health”.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan made the announcement on Facebook after Mr Daniel Goh, owner of a well-known craft beer stall at Chinatown Complex posted the rule on Facebook, calling it “stupid” and “onerous”. Mr Goh’s post gathered 235 likes, 258 shares, and 66 comments.

In its response, the NEA said that the licence condition highlighted by Mr Goh was put in place in the past as a general requirement, “in consideration of the nature of ‘zhi char’ stalls that involve heavy cooking”.

These stalls require adequate cooker hoods and flues to extract the smoke and fumes from the cooking areas.

They also require sufficient space for food preparation and storage, and higher electrical power for larger refrigerators to store the various ingredients typically used in “zhi char” dishes.

“Hence the licence condition required stallholders selling ‘zhi char’ dishes to seek NEA’s approval, so that these operational requirements are addressed upfront,” said the NEA.

The agency said that since most of its upgraded hawker centres are now outfitted with exhaust systems and higher capacity electrical power, it will be updating the licence conditions.