George Yang, Author at Goody Feed

The coronavirus isn’t just hurting people’s health. It’s also hurting people’s livelihoods: you might not have friends who’re infected with the virus but you'd definitely have friends who’ve gone on unpaid leave or lost their jobs. And for bosses, it hurts them even more because this unforeseen outbreak could break a business within days, rendering them bankrupt in a month. And Daniel Ong, an outspoken radio DJ and TV host who’s also well-known for both the one-half of Twelve Cupcakes and the ex-husband of Jamie Teo, is showing us the numbers. No Crowd in CBD But Still Have to Pay Rental If there’s something you need to know about Daniel Ong, it’s that he’s a good businessman. The brain behind Twelve Cupcake turned the $80K business into a multimillion F&B chain that has stores in almost every mall you step in, and sold it in 2017 to a listed company. That made him so rich, his house has an indoor garden filled with fake plants that serve as an air well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v4AvuCToOgBs Yes, I know: it’s precisely because we don’t know what the heck is an air well that makes it so exclusive. The man’s still running countless businesses, but one of which is so in the red that it’s “game over”. Plead for Help in Instagram Rookery Singapore is a café in the day and restaurant bar at night—a perfect combo for an F&B outlet in CBD. It has three outlets there: at China Square, Hong Leong Building and Capital Tower. Founded by Daniel and his two friends, it even had live bands, making it one of the goody places to unwind after a long day at work in the competitive CBD. https://www.instagram.com/p/B96VU8KHXf-/ But there’s, of course, just one problem, as shown by this taxi driver: CBD is now as empty as my bank account. Since all the premises are offices, many people have been told to work from home instead. And that poses a serious problem for a business like Rookery Singapore which depends solely on high footfall from the CBD crowd. Daniel Ong posted this hours ago, pleading his landlord to give him a chance: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-RO35PH-Ul/ In his caption, he mentioned that the space costs $25K (most likely per month lah) and manpower costs $40k a month. With many people in CBD telecommuting, they’re hit very badly. While other F&B businesses can depend on food delivery to at least tide over the extremely slow period, he can’t do so since there’s no one near his restaurant at all. Or in the words of the taxi driver, “Bo lang.” According to the post, there is been $2k to $4k discount on the rental, which most probably is encouraged by the Government’s earlier measure that reduces property tax so that the savings can be passed down to tenants like Daniel Ong. However, Daniel wrote that the amount just “delays the inevitable”. He then alleged that rental has doubled or tripled through the years, and pleaded for the landlord to “be on the other side for once”. It seems like the landlord is checking with their bosses on Daniel’s request, but Daniel claims that he can’t wait for two weeks for an email reply. In his post, he tagged a few developers (maybe his landlords?) and even tagged our PM Lee Hsien Loong, DPM Heng Swee Keat and NTUC Head Ng Chee Meng, together with The Business Times and The Straits Times. The guy’s going all out, man. Solution: Waive Rent for 2 to 3 Months? In an earlier post, he posted this which is less emotional with facts: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-RM6uRnfuY/ In it, he said that business has dropped by 70% to 80%, and sought for a waiver of rental for 2 to 3 months for a “fighting chance” if not they’re “not going to make it”. Which’ll of course lead to the next question: Isn’t the Government helping? Government’s Resilience Budget Just two days ago, DPM Heng announced the Resilience Budget, a second support package for Singapore businesses and Singaporeans who are hit badly by the COVID-19. This package costs the Government a whopping $48.4 billion, with $17 billion coming from Singapore’s reserves. Does any of them help Daniel’s business? Let’s take a look. Property tax rebate increase (but whether the landlord will pass the savings to tenants is another story altogether) Wavier of rental for 0.5 to 3 months for Government-managed properties (doesn’t seem to apply to him as his place is in a commercial building) More business loans (a feasible solution for him to tide over this stormy period) More training funds (not relevant to him) Government paying 50% of wages for each Singaporean for F&B sector (very relevant to him; every Singaporean employee in his restaurant will have 50% of their salary being paid for by the Government!) So, while everything looks gloomy, there might still be help. But of course we peasants who live in HDB with no air well won’t understand the pain. We should be glad that we’re still drawing a salary at the end of every month? Erm…we are, right? Boss?

George Yang

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