Tuesday, 06 October 2026 · Daily Market Intel

Market IntelTue, 06 Oct

Hawker couple who sold US$3.90 pork jelly for 45 years shuts stall.

Heritage hawker focus · prepaid deposits · flood cash

Someone's payday
- Regulars kept queuing for 45 years, so why is Lao Liang's US$3.90 trotter jelly stall shutting? — VnExpress International
  Yu Zhongrong, 75, and Lin Cailuan will close their Berseh Food Centre stall on 31 October. They start at 3am for a 10am opening, and a plate of pork trotter jelly, pig's feet set in cold savoury aspic, still sells for US$3.90.
  Positive-sum angle: A dish that needs seven hours of prep and sells for under US$4 survives only where someone pays for the hours. Central kitchens, chilled-food makers and younger hawkers who batch the work can keep the recipe and its regulars alive.
  What's the impact: A Singapore food founder with a central kitchen should approach heritage stalls like this one before closing day: license the recipe, batch the 3am prep, sell it chilled. Lin named the gap herself: hard work, high cost, little money on a US$3.90 (S$5) plate.
Your costs
- Prepaid a gym package? 1,518 True Fitness and True Yoga members lost about US$1,900 each — Mothership
  After True Fitness, True Yoga and Yoga Inc. closed, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) logged 1,610 complaints worth US$3 million in three weeks. Prepayment losses this year reached US$5.2 million by September, against US$2.1 million in all of 2025.
  Positive-sum angle: CASE wants cooling-off periods on big prepaid packages and mandatory CaseTrust, its accreditation for firms that protect customer deposits. Gyms that ring-fence deposits early can sell trust while rivals keep selling discounts.
  What's the impact: Singapore gyms, studios and tuition centres selling year-long bundles should move to monthly billing or escrow, an account a third party holds until the service is delivered, before the rule lands. Cheap escrow for small studios is a fintech product nobody sells yet.
The tool
- Flooded Thai workshop and no cash left? A state fund lends up to US$30,000, interest-free for six months — The Nation
  Thailand's Department of Industrial Promotion opened a US$1.5 million Quick Cash for Disaster Recovery fund: new borrowers get up to US$30,000 with no interest for six months. Floods have hit 4,216 businesses across 55 provinces.
  Positive-sum angle: Fast cash keeps suppliers paid and staff on the books, so the factories and buyers that rely on 4,006 flooded SMEs recover with them. SME D Bank adds a 12-month pause on principal and interest for its borrowers.
  What's the impact: A flood-hit Thai SME owner should apply in the first week, when field teams start visiting. The pot is small: at the full 1-million-baht (US$30,000) limit it covers about 50 borrowers.

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