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Hawker food prices don’t depend on hawkers only

I refer to the letter, “Stop unnecessary hawker centre renovations” (Sept 26), and agree that renovations should be kept to the essentials so that hawkers can provide good food at reasonable prices.

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Stanley Kong

I refer to the letter, “Stop unnecessary hawker centre renovations” (Sept 26), and agree that renovations should be kept to the essentials so that hawkers can provide good food at reasonable prices.

In the example cited, rent was raised from $1,000 to $1,400 a month, a 40 per cent increase. Hawkers and customers would definitely not benefit. The former are often blamed when they raise prices, but do we look at how hard they work?

At $1,400, or around $47 a day, one has to sell 16 bowls of noodles at $3 each to break even on rental each day before catering for other expenses such as ingredients and miscellaneous charges. What is the take-home income after that?

There are three factors in the cost equation: Land, labour and capital. Emphasis is always placed on labour, but the cost of land and capital should be looked into as well.

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