SINGAPORE - A year ago, Ms Michelle Yee Wen Lee used to work nine to five as an office manager. But her daily routine changed after she and her 38-year-old field engineer husband took a leap of faith, quitting their full-time jobs to become hawkers.
Today, they run a popular hawker stall in Smith Street in Chinatown, selling Hakka dishes and handmade yong tau foo.
The 35-year-old and her husband are special hawkers: They are a success story from the National Environment Agency's Incubation Stall Programme for hawkers.
Since it was launched in February last year, 60 applicants have applied to set up hawker stalls. Of the 60, 20 stallholders were successful in their applications.
Ms Yee is one of two stallholders who have stayed the course since they joined the programme on July 1 last year. The couple have now applied to "graduate" from the programme and become permanent stallholders at their Chinatown premises.
"I was tired of working a normal job, and I wanted to get my passion back and do something meaningful for myself," Ms Yee said.
She told The Straits Times that the incubation programme gave her the opportunity to build her career as a hawker without being overly burdened by worries about failing.
"While working as a hawker is not easy and can be quite physically taxing, I am happy and thankful that rent rebates give me the space to improve our recipes, form personal bonds with our customers, and build our business," Ms Yee added.
Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor announced on Monday (Sept 30) further rebates for the stall incubation programme. With immediate effect, new stallholders who join it will receive a 25 per cent rental rebate on their stalls for another six months.
This 25 per cent rebate is on top of measures announced in March this year that offer new stallholders a 50 per cent rental rebate for nine months.
Altogether, the rebates give hawkers in the incubation programme a sizeable discount of $412 to $720 on rent every month for a 15-month period.
"We will extend the incubation stall period by another six months, providing stallholders with further rental rebates. Based on feedback from hawkers, this is a reasonable period for new entrants to learn the ropes and build up their business, and maybe transition to running a permanent stall," said Dr Khor.
She was speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural Hawker's Seminar at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Paya Lebar, where 27 hawkers - including Ms Yee - were recognised for their success and contributions.
"We would like to provide the opportunity for hawkers that are genuinely interested, and want to try out their plans," Dr Khor said.
Successful hawkers under the programme like Ms Yee will also be able to continue their business at the existing stall where they have built up their clientele, Dr Khor said.
Additionally, both aspiring and existing hawkers can also look forward to a new training and development programme that will be rolled out at the end of this year, where they can attend classes, apprenticeship programmes and apply for incubation stalls.
In the meantime, the NEA is now looking to fill up six remaining vacancies at its 15 incubation stalls across Singapore.
The stalls are located at Block 6 Jalan Bukit Merah, Block 17 Upper Boon Keng Road, Block 44 Holland Drive, Block 335 Smith Street, Serangoon Garden Market, and Block 20 Ghim Moh Road.
Correction note: This article has been edited for accuracy.
