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What is wrong with our system? Why the authority allow this to happen? http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=44468 Lianhe Wanbao A reader told Lianhe Wanbao his take on why hawker food prices are getting higher and higher. Stall owners are said to be profiteering by transferring or renting their stalls out at inflated prices. These inflated rental prices lead to hawkers who have to charge higher prices to make a living. Prices borne by consumers like you and me. Besides increasing prices, some of these hawkers are also forced to work day and night without off days to afford the rent. Hawker centre prices are also increasingly comparable to food court prices. Reporters checked out such a phenomenon at the newly revamped Kovan hawker centre and found that stalls are being transferred at price tags of up to $300,000 each. That makes each stall about the equivalent of a new HDB flat. Stall owners are also renting out their stalls for up to $6,500 a month. This phenomenon is said to be happening all over the island, and the concerned reader is asking for the authorities to check on such practices. The National Environment Agency (NEA) states that stall owners that receive subsidies are not allowed to rent out their stalls to others, but are allowed to transfer the ownership of their stalls. The NEA manages 107 hawker centres and nearly 15,000 hawker and wet market stalls. About 42% of these stalls receive subsidies. Subsidised stalls pay between $160 to $320 rent every month, while non-subsidised stalls pay $300 to $4,900 every month.