Many businesses struggled when the pandemic first hit. Things started to improve after some time however, our nation is currently battling another wave and our hawkers are heavily impacted by the heightened Phase 2 regulations that are taking place.
As mentioned by the government body, we are not allowed to dine-in at restaurants and hawker centres as it increases our contact with other and thus, might increase the number of cases. Therefore, I believe that more and more people are using food delivery services to purchase their meals.
This might then help restaurants and other food establishments increase sales and revenue. However, there are some hawkers who do not such advantage and thus, they lose customers and are not doing as well.
Map of Digitally Disadvantaged Hawkers
Fortunately, a Reddit user (waffleboy92) came up with a map that locates all digitally disadvantaged hawkers. This will then raise awareness about the hawkers that are still operating and offer takeaways instead of delivery services. Check out the Google Map here!
With the purpose of attracting more customers to these stalls, the map is available for the public, allowing us to head down to these stalls to support our hawkers. The Reddit user, whose name is M Thirukkumaran, had aimed for the initiative to help those who wants to support digitally disadvantaged hawkers but do not know who or where they are located.
Thus, this map was launched to locate all the digitally disadvantaged hawkers, allowing more people to support and help them out.
More Contributors
According to Mothership, Thiru welcomes other to contribute to the map as well. Since the map first launched, more people have been contributing to it, according to Thiru. For those who wish to update the layer with new submission, all you have to do is reach out to him on Reddit.
When you hover and click onto the hawkers, you will be able to view details about the stall, such as the name of the stall, operating hours, address, and even a backstory of the stall.
I believe that our community is able to work together towards greatness, especially during these times. I am extremely glad that people are working hand in hand to support those who have worked so hard to provide us with our needs.
My Final Thoughts
This is such as great start to offering out help to our dear hawkers. They have worked so hard to provide delicious meals for us. Maybe it is our time to give back to them. It warms my heart to see our people working together to support others, I mean that is after all the kampong spirit here in Singapore.
I really hope that our community will continue to work together. Put our differences aside and appreciate each other. Share this with your friends and family and maybe you too could contribute to helping our hawkers on this map!
