China Overseas Chinese Network, October 27. According to Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao, Chinatown Food Street, which has been in business for 20 years, officially closed on October 22 local time due to the impact of the new crown epidemic.
It is understood that in order to revitalize the Chinatown area, the Singapore Tourism Board has opened the Chinatown Food Street since 2001. The 100-meter-long street uses hawker carts selling classic local delicacies to attract tourists and local people.
The food court cost 4 million yuan to undergo a major renovation in 2013, including adding a roof to enhance the dining experience of diners.
In 2014, it was taken over by the Select Group. A total of 24 well-known stalls entered, including the time-honored Eunos Minced Meat Noodle, the King of Fried Rice, and Katong Kaji Oyster Fried.
In April 2020, Chinatown Food Street was temporarily closed due to virus blocking measures, until it reopened with a shortened business hours four months later. From December 2020, Chinatown Food Street will be fully open to cater to local diners.
Due to the impact of the epidemic, the second phase of the high alert that banned dine-in in 2021 was lifted. Due to the lack of packaging and take-out business, Chinatown Food Street again decided to suspend business until it reopened in June 2021.
When it closed on October 22, there were only two stalls left in the food court.
Chen Zupeng, executive director of Shengle Group, explained that the absence of tourists or local customers and the inability of tenants to pay rent prevented the company from continuing to operate Chinatown Food Street.
He said: "When Chinatown Food Street restarted at the end of last year, it focused on'all-day local delicacies, barbecue hot pot in the evening'. It was warmly welcomed, mainly because the number of diners at that time was relaxed to a group of eight. But this year the government has tightened again. The limit on the number of diners has severely hit the tide of diners, causing most tenants to be unable to continue their business."
Lin Shuling, Director of Arts and Cultural Scenic Areas of the Singapore Tourism Board, pointed out that the authorities understand the huge challenges faced by tenants during the epidemic, and have also worked closely with Shengle Group to implement a number of supplementary programs, such as rent exemption and help with publicity.
She said: "We will continue to work closely with relevant agencies to explore other options for this location and share more details in due course."
In an interview, Ou Shunan (73), the owner of Nanji’s restaurant that operates across the food street, said that since the outbreak, the food street’s business has not improved. In recent months, only two or three customers have visited each day. Of the more than 20 booths, only two were left at the end of the business.
The manager surnamed Li (50) of a Chinese restaurant operating on the same street pointed out that without a food court to drive business, the atmosphere on Smith Street is even more sluggish and harder to attract customers' attention.
She pointed out that although the government has helped alleviate the operating costs of catering businesses through subsidies and assistance, the problem of reducing customers has always been the biggest challenge.
She said: "In addition to the absence of tourists, people have been working from home for a long time, and the crowds of dining-in for office workers have also decreased a lot. Today, the business volume, including packing and dining-in, has fallen to about 10% of last year's. Plus delicacies. With the closure of the streets, even if tourists can enter Singapore through tourist channels, the atmosphere in Chinatown will not be as lively as it used to be. I hope the authorities can focus on improving the atmosphere here.” (Wang Yingting)