Netizens question Baey Yam Keng’s S$100 MPS dinner budget, citing rising costs and undervalued labour

SINGAPORE: Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Baey Yam Keng has put out an open call for home-based food businesses to provide dinner for volunteers attending his weekly Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) at Tampines GRC.

In a Facebook post on 29 December, Baey said he was seeking halal food options for around 20 people per session. The meals may include snacks, staple dishes, desserts, or a combination of these.

Baey’s MPS are held every Monday at 646B Tampines Street 62, except on public holidays and the fifth Monday of each month.

He said he would personally cover the cost, offering S$100 per session.

Supporting volunteers and local businesses

Speaking to Mothership, Baey explained that he has been personally paying for dinner for his volunteers over the past six months as a gesture of appreciation.

Many of them head straight to MPS after work without having time for dinner.

Previously, the meals were prepared by a cook from a PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots pre-school, where the PAP Tampines Boulevard branch rents space to hold its MPS.

However, Baey said he learnt over the weekend before 29 December that the cook would no longer be able to continue, as she needs to care for her grandchildren.

With the arrangement coming to an end, Baey began exploring alternatives and said commercial caterers were unlikely to take on such small orders.

This prompted him to consider engaging home-based food businesses instead.

He added that the idea was also inspired by a recent grassroots Christmas market in his precinct, where home-based businesses took part.

While food sellers were unable to operate without a licence, the experience led him to consider other ways of supporting such businesses.

Budget doubled to encourage participation

Baey shared that he had previously paid S$50 per session for the meals prepared by the pre-school cook, which typically included simple dishes such as bee hoon and chicken wings.

He has since doubled the budget to S$100, saying this would be a more reasonable amount.

He noted that it would be up to the businesses to decide whether the arrangement was worthwhile, adding that interest had been encouraging so far.

Baey plans to rotate between different providers rather than appoint a single caterer, which he said would also allow volunteers to enjoy a wider variety of food options and flavours.

While some businesses offered to customise their menus, and one even offered to sponsor the meals, Baey declined sponsorship, preferring to pay for the food himself.

Most of the interested businesses are based around Tampines Boulevard, making it convenient for volunteers to collect the food before dinner each week.

The new arrangement is set to begin at the next MPS on 5 January.

Looking ahead, Baey said he is also exploring the possibility of engaging home-based businesses to provide meals for volunteers during special occasions, such as festive events and birthday celebrations.

Netizens question budget and food safety

However, Baey’s initiative drew criticism from some netizens in the comments section of Mothership’s Facebook post, with several questioning whether the S$100 budget was sufficient.

Some pointed out that the amount worked out to about S$5 per person, arguing that it would be difficult for home-based halal businesses to cover costs given inflation.

Some commenters suggested that ordering fast food such as McDonald’s might be more realistic.

Others questioned whether the arrangement genuinely supported home-based businesses, with one user saying that whoever took it up would likely lose money and might only do so out of goodwill towards the volunteers or the PAP MP.

There were also concerns over food hygiene and regulations. Some netizens questioned whether home-based businesses were allowed to provide catering services.

“Do SFA have different sets of rules for different people?” one user asked.

One user added that food hygiene is a big concern for home-based catering businesses and asked whether they would need to undergo mandatory food safety courses.

Questions were also raised over who would be responsible in the event of food poisoning.

One commenter described the budget as “cheapskate”, arguing that while the initiative itself was positive, it undervalued the time, labour, and costs involved.

“Good initiatives deserve fair resourcing. Stop glorifying cheap. Value people’s time, labour, and costs properly,” the user wrote.

Baey clarifies budget

In an update on 30 December, Baey clarified that he is not expecting snacks, staples, and desserts all within the S$100 budget.

He explained that the previous cook prepared items such as mee goreng, fried chicken wings, and sambal eggs within S$50, largely on a voluntary basis. This is why the budget has now been doubled.

He added that he had received interest from almost 20 different parties offering items such as vegetarian bee hoon, tiramisu, teh tarik, Thai street food, dumplings, and waffles.

“The volunteers typically only have time to eat well after 10pm, after helping all residents with their appeals. We also don’t really have a full meal at that time,” Baey said.

“If we are able to rotate among a group of home-based businesses, it is good to have a variety of food from week to week.”