great video

TOC maybe doing these Alley Barbers a disfavour by featuring them. For all we know, the next moment these barbers may not be allowed to ply their trades at where they are now.

There will be tons of wonderful reasons to have their rice bowls smash to pieces.

patriot

This is how high paid minister lee boon yang as MP helping Mr Lee Yong Tong by telling him he should be happy receiving a (mere) $1000/- for so many years in his former premises. LBY got the audacity to speak so.

What about many other requests for help sweeping under the carpet, without being publicised? Are MP and ministers the very people we voted to represent us?

Now, there is always this darker side of midnight.

Thank Lee Boon Yang at the elections. There are many in the PAP that I would like to thank. The rest of them I don’t know them at all, due to their taking a backseat in parliament.

He must be thankful that he was compensated 1k as a good will. We peasants must know where we stand. 1k is alot of money compared to $1 from SLA for taking others property.

well, LBY now has a cushy job of Keppel Corp Chairman. Maybe he is in a better position to help now?

2) patriot

///TOC maybe doing these Alley Barbers a disfavour by featuring them////

how true. action without considering the consequences.

5) Seventh Son
Looks like it is a private property sale, how does SLA come to the picture?

Maybe TOC should walk the talk and go help him, rather than just post this secondhand video that takes little effort to do, but if this man cannot operate at the lane anymore, it takes a lot of effort for him to get out of possible charges for illegal hawking.

“they are having a good deal all this while”

How come they are still poor? Please think before talking Dr Lee.

I do not agree with featuring the barber. You guys might have just “pecah lobang” and he’ll get chased away without much of an alternative business to fall back on right now.

Good grief. We did not do the video. And the video is already on the Internet (as you can see from Reclaimed Land’s website.)

In any case, highlighting issues is bringing issues to light.

I would be appalled if we are expected to help solve all problems we highlight. It’s like what some people in govt say: If you want to complain, provide solutions.

That’s a red herring argument. As citizens, we have the right to highlight problems.

Otherwise, TOC would only be singing the praises of the govt – and everyone else.

Duh!

- Andrew

Let me add:

Mr Lee Yong Toon had sought his MP’s help, according to the report in the video. And apparently, he did not receive much help in the process.

Perhaps KopitiamApek would like to write to Dr Lee Boon Yang and enquire, instead of pointing the finger at TOC for highlighting the video.

- Andrew

TOC – Andrew,

The intent to help is very appreciated, however, you guys should sit back and consider the ramifications of amplifying his situation publicly because it will definitely open him up to people (those nosey parkers) calling up the authorities or complain on Stomp about illegal hawkers.

Such is the vindictive nature of the average Singaporeans which can be anecdotally seen.

Hence, our concern here is that he might be harrassed unduly for his back alley business. It’s real life at work here..

Loyola,

If that is the operating premise, then I am afraid that many stories will not get told. For example, if we did not highlight the abuse and exploitation of foreign workers because they might be repatriated if “someone” up there read their stories, then the plight of the workers may not be known.

Another example: If we did not highlight the case of the “Marxist Conspirators”, many may not have known what the case is about. We would not have highlighted them if we feared they might be “harassed”.

If the authorities were to harass Mr Lee and remove him from his place of business, then isn’t it for us S’poreans to stand up for him then and ask the govt for the reasons?

I am indeed sad that what you’re saying, correct me if I am wrong, is that we should not highlight problems and stories if we fear Singaporeans’ “vindictiveness” or “harassment” by the authorities.

It makes me sad to hear this.

- Andrew

By the way, Loyola, we are not the first to put the video on the Internet and secondly, we did not do the video.

It is already on the Reclaimed Land’s website – and may I add that they have done a great job.

- Andrew

Most of you do not understand the plight of Mr Lee…the barber….
Do you think he cares about what would and could happen….C’mon….

But what MP…Dr Lee…..is doing is really thankful….shouldn’t he be assisting this man to set himself up some place else….perhaps a HDB shop or some sort….

How come the earlier place at No1 Boon Tat was cheaper and why wasn’t there a contract. Simple people sometimes don’t go too deep into details and get screwed over in Singapore. Beware….we will be paying more for everything…Temasek has no money.

TOC’s an online news and opinion web channel.

its duty is to bring news and opinion

why do some moronic Singaporeans challenge TOC to solve or suggest solutions to the problems in the country that it highlights?

Mr. Lee Boon Yang is very well compensated as a member of the Ruling Elites….why should he care about Barbers?

Maybe citizens will have to ask themselves did they bring this type of problems onto themselves?

Do We need to show the Ruling Party that it is time for them to move on in the next GE?

All comments about whether TOC should have highlighted this report will no longer be allowed.

The article is about a barber losing his shop space.

It is not about whether TOC should help, or whether TOC should highlight his plight.

Such an argument can be used against all or most TOC reports and as such, deviate from the issues in the article.

Stick to the issue and your comments will be allowed.

If you want to discuss whether TOC should help or highlight such stories, you can discuss it over at our Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/theonlinecitizen

What did this barber think before he decided to approach his super smart and efficientt Member of Parliament?

Another place to continue his business if he got more than $1000.00. Since he has to work until he dies as he cannot afford the luxury of retiring which itself is wishful thinking in Singapore.

Of course he could have retired if he had million bucks and owned a pigeon hole without any mortgage payments.

So he approaches his Member of Parliament whom he elected so faithfully wheter in good or bad times in those years and thought wishfully that he would be helped.

Poor guy, he got nothing.

This is actually the tip of the iceberg for more to come for more people getting in to this kind of situations

lee boon yang should be thankful that we allow him to receive high pay for doing nothing.

The issue at large is that we are now being forced to pay higher prices for almost everything in the name of development. Just look at ridiculous bidding prices for the Clementi Hub, it only goes to show that NTUC Income has amassed huge profits at the expense of the common people to be in a position to bid at such prices.

What are the consequences? Is it not true that the man in the street are being squeezed with lower wages and lesser opportunities while big corporations are the ones to benefit from soaring rentals. Not to forget that our Ministers are the ultimate beneficiaries.

Given a choice, I would prefer to have my haircut at the alley.

Thank you for sharing and providing another point of view, as opposed to
mediacorp.
Your efforts are worthwhile. Some stories appear insignificant, but it means
plenty when there are other ways to solve situations such as this barber.

Although he enjoyed very cheap rents, it means someone has been earning money
from him. Can we not have a system of licensing where trades such as a barber can ply their trades along such places? Its all so lazy. Just pass the buck to the owner of the land/property.
As administrators, they should be able to look at the opportunities rather than the limitations.

Foolish MBAs

At today’s rate, if he rents a shop, he probably needs to pay $5000 for a small shop to cut $10 dollars per head.

Hi,

as one of the creators of the video I thought I give a bit more context. It’s great that TOC is featuring the video, but I’ll also like to point out that the video is part of a bigger story about street hawking as a way to conduct business in a country dominated by huge MNCs and businesses.

From what we understand, Barber Lee is licensed under a NEA itinerant hawker scheme and he acknowledged in the video that the authorities have been understanding to his needs. But, it has also been pointed out to us that the Gov hopes this scheme will die out over time as street hawking is deemed backwards and out of sync with our modern economy. In fact, they stopped issuing new licenses in 1994 but reversed the decision in 2000 because of the economic downturn. At the end of the day, they would really prefer elderly people to upgrade themselves and get a job instead.

Yet, people like Barber Lee show us that such this way of doing business can nurture entrepreneurs because of its low costs of failure as there is almost no rent involved. It’s also a way of life they prefer. However, because of how Singapore is planned and built, small businesses like these struggle to survive with the high rents.

On the issue of featuring them, I agree with Andrew that it is important to highlight them, and in a sensitive manner. In our stories, we have made sure the people we bring attention to know what we intend to do. Those who might get into trouble have been left out or kept anonymous upon request. As far as I know, interviewees from Reclaim Land’s various stories are still out there today.

Most importantly, their fight I feel is not really with the government per se. It’s with the public’s perceptions about who they are and what they are doing on the land. Too often we ask for Singapore to be so orderly and modern that we make this island even smaller than it actually is.

Capitaland should help.

Hi,

I am the photographer for this story. Thanks TOC for featuring part of our multimedia project.

I would also like to make a brief note about the handling of this story. While Dr Lee Boon Yang’s comment to Barber Lee (as narrated by Barber Lee) is relevant to the story, it is far from being the most important point.

As Justin, my project mate, already mentioned, this video is part of a bigger story about street hawking as a way to conduct business in a country dominated by huge MNCs and businesses. And this story is part of an even bigger project about land usage and the contest for space in Singapore.

I sincerely hope that discussions don’t remain fixed on one single statement. TOC, while not being the people who started this project, also has an important role to play in directing discussions and contextualising.

Cheers.

I view this from a different perspective. I hv reflected about this and mostly choosen to use Barber as an example of how we (as a person) should try to stay relevant to the job scope in order not to be left behind. The irony of this is what my friend the Hair Salon stylist warned me. She told me specifically that cutting hair for me was a waste of her time. I thought that $12 was a good bang given that some 10mins haircut could get cheaper in shopping center.

She said no. Her target customers where those gg for rebonding, highlighting and hair dyeing which fetches more because women are more willing to spend then men. A simple rebonding could bring about $100 which is equal to cutting hair for me 10 times. If you are famous like Andy Gan of course it could become $400, So there is an element of value adding.

To me, this barber trade is like a low cost, labor intensive business that has barrelled itself to a fated ending. One has to upgrade skills both technical as well as human skills, to captivate the market. If you are insistence to stay put with the way of doing business, competitors will overwhelme you in no time.

For us, the lesson is upgrade one’s skill and stay connected with the industry and competition. In compeitive world like insurance, this is especially true.

There is a certain truth when one’s parent has been protesizing about how one should study hard when young, so that as a son, life will be easier than what they have been through. Life was hard on me because I wouldn’t listen too well. And coming from a poor family with a complex neighborhood, it was not possible back then to have tuition or english speaking parent or a surrounding that emphasize on studying. Things could have turned out worst. But fate has it, that I have put in efforts to study in my 40s, and I can say for certainty, that I have a more secured future and need not become a Cheaper coolie, Better not fall into any illness and Faster finish my meals to continue to work. My stress is $$, just like everyone else but with lesser predicament. Now, I have opportunity to venture aboard to ply my trade and skills and ask for a higher pay. And I hope someone will share this lesson.

.

Here’s to those who chastise TOC for highlighting this man’s plight instead of trying to help him out: Are these commentators themselves willing to lend this man a hand? If they aren’t, or haven’t shown any inclination to do so, aren’t they being downright hypocritical?

2)Patriot
Hehe….Not to worry,chances of allowing them to continue to ply their trade there is high.I dun think one enjoy seeing these barber uncles being jobless..Maybe they even help to upgrade them to be WSQ or NSRS trained and make them licensed barber .

The barber could have paid the new landlord whatever new rental the latter demanded. Why didn’t he?

If he chooses to live in his old world and stick to his old way of servicing, it is little wonder that he could not afford the new rental.

What does he expect the government to do? To subsidise his rental and allow him to rot with his business?

32) My Views on December 5th, 2009 4.11 am

Did you bother watching the video at all? It says he was “unable to afford” the new rental fees. Which part of that did you not understand? Or do you suppose that he would rather prefer working out in the alley with the rain/wind for company than part with something he could easily afford?