Nicole Seah Instagram – Visited the Bedok Block 216 Hawker Centre hawker centre with @fooseckguan.sg this morning. It was nice to say hello to warm familiar faces, for the young and the “young at heart” residents. The hawker centre welcomed back many residents after a three-month renovation, and it was great to see the same snaking queues for stalls which have been around for decades. The redevelopment and rebuilding of hawker centres are funded by the government when the time is due. Repair and redecoration works of hawker centres may be borne fully by NEA or the town council. It was a puzzling claim when we heard that the MPs fund the reparation of hawker centres from their own coffers, and the resident whom this was communicated to was similarly befuddled. Separately, I spoke to a blue collared worker who worked in a local franchise nearby and she teared up as she recounted an abusive supervisor who used the mop to vent his anger and was verbally abusive towards staff who were low wage workers and could not afford to resign. This individual was fortunate enough to leave the company and found another shift job. Mindful that there are always two sides to a story, I told her that we would be happy to help her file a written appeal to MOM as she was illiterate. She declined and said that she was afraid of the potential consequences as she finds it difficult to land gainful employment. I was not able to ascertain at that stage if the anecdote could be substantiated further. However it was a sombre reflection regardless that low wage workers continue to be on the receiving end of a power imbalance in our workforce, and there needs to be more rights and safeguards in place to ensure their personal safety and dignity in the workplace. Blk 216 Bedok Hawker Centre