The Edge Singapore revisits local businesses to see how they are dealing with the pandemic one year on. Overall, vestiges of a sombre mood remains
When The Edge Singapore spoke to businesses this time last year, many acknowledged that 2020 was a tough year. Even so, hawkers, gym owners, photographers, renovation contractors and doctors harboured hope that 2021 would be better.
Things seemed more optimistic last December: Vaccines became available, restrictions were loosened, human traffic was picking up, Covid-19 cases seemed to remain steady and the general sentiment was that 2021 will be the year of recovery.
Unfortunately, the virus had other plans. The Delta variant emerged in the earlier half of the year, forcing Singapore to tighten restrictions multiple times. Groups can now only gather in groups of five, down from eight people this time last year.
The Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) reflects the uneven year. For F&B businesses, wage subsidies went from 50% in May to 10% for just nine days in July. Subsidies then shot up to 60% as Phase Two (Heightened Alert) was introduced from July 22, before returning to 10% for the latter half of August. When similar restrictions were reintroduced from Sept 27, businesses had a quarter of their wage costs subsidised, before the figure returned to 10% from Nov 22.
Then, the Omicron variant surfaced in late-November. While the jury is still out on its severity, the new variant of concern has affected markets around the world, putting a speed bump on year three with Covid-19.
See also: How Covid-19 reshaped industries
Food business woes
The pandemic has been tough on F&B operators. Take Rice Bowl Boys, for example. Co-founded by former Jigger & Pony bartender Josiah Chee, the new hawkers set up shop at Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre in October 2020, after serving grain bowls out of home kitchens. However, the food centre closed in September after 66 Covid-19 cases were linked to a cluster there. Although that closure lasted only three days, Chee says Rice Bowl Boys decided to shut its stall following a “big drop in business. We’re now doing catering and pop-ups.”
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“We’ve fed a lot of hungry people and managed to give back to our community through working with charity organisations in Chinatown,” adds the 31-year-old. “We did pretty well during the first quarter of the year but business became increasingly hard as we lost most of our dining and office crowd. Going through the ‘takeaway-only’ situation three times this year was certainly an experience.”
Chee says that F&B operators will benefit from clearer lockdown guidelines as “F&B stalls in the business districts require more tailored support schemes as they suffer the most with human shortfall.”
Still, economic uncertainty has not deterred new entrants to the F&B space. These days, pop-ups are seen as a relatively safer way to break into the market. From baking bagels for friends, Hemant Mathy saw potential for Asian fusion bagels with flavours like fried chicken cutlets drizzled with Japanese tonkatsu sauce, butter chicken and even tofu.
Graduating into a pandemic, Mathy was initially looking for a break from the corporate sector after completing internships and various freelance projects. Starting in June, the 25-year-old went from making bagels as a home-based business to running a weekly pop-up at Nightcap, a bar along Upper East Coast Road.
“It started off as a friendly conversation with the owners as I usually bartend there on weekends, and we decided to give it a shot one Friday night with pretty good results. From there, we decided to make it a weekly event. We work on a consignment basis, and rent isn’t something The Bagel Bunch has to cover,” he says.
Nightcap itself is a pop-up that took over the former Stamping Ground Coffee on Fridays and Saturdays. As of December, Stamping Ground Coffee is changing hands and is now not in operation. Scaling up from cooking at home to running a physical pop-up was a “high-risk, high-reward” move, says Mathy. “The pop-up allows The Bagel Bunch to expand beyond its regular target audience and make new connections with more people.”
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“For those looking to try out an F&B concept, pop-up events are a great way to test the waters and see whether people are receptive to the idea. It’s not just about selling out or making tons of money, it’s about seeing whether people are interested in the idea and trying what you’re making.”
For nascent businesses like The Bagel Bunch, Covid-19 has been both help and hindrance. “There was an uptick in home deliveries during Heightened Alert and even after that, as people were cautious about going out.” The reduced group sizes also deterred people from going out at all sometimes, Mathy continues. “Even when the restrictions were relaxed, people were hesitant to go out and would keep their outings as short as possible.”
‘A miracle we didn’t fold’
Photography and videography studio Urban Aperture has had an even more tumultuous time navigating the pandemic. Last year, co-founder Audi Khalid shared anecdotes from an ongoing dispute with their landlord at Kallang Place, which forced the two-man operation to rely on the Self-Employed Persons Income Relief Scheme’s (SIRS) three payouts of $3,000 each.
The studio has since moved into a bigger space, in what the 33-year-old calls a “miracle”. He adds: “It has been quite a rollercoaster since we last spoke. We had a tussle with the landlord who threatened to evict us over outstanding rent, so we decided to move to a new space in the middle of the pandemic, after a good few months of no income.”
“Somehow, we managed. We moved to a bigger space in Shaw Road, and we could pay for deposits and renovations on top of clearing our outstanding rental. It was almost a miracle we didn’t fold.”
The company survived by diversifying their revenue streams in the last quarter of 2020. Audi continues: “One way was opening up our studio for public rentals. We started small to iron out any kinks before opening up fullscale in our new studio space. It opened us up to a rather stable market of studio rentals. I’ve noticed more studios opening as of late, and my bookings are also growing.”
The nature of work, too, has changed. Last year, Audi observed that large productions have been scarce, while e-commerce clients have picked up. That changed this year. He says: “I’m noticing a swing from many projects with small budgets to fewer projects with larger budgets. The swing seems to be largely speculative, dependent on what the next measures would be.”
Companies seem to have changed tack in their marketing in favour of evergreen collaterals. “It seems the so-called seasonal industry cycle has changed. I would expect more enquiries on Christmas projects, but there were fewer this year, and my peers in the industry say the same. However, we do get more inquiries for branding and social media projects that aren’t tied to any festive events.”
Looking back at the year, Audi thinks the changing restrictions have hampered business. “There were a few rough patches in the midyear where restriction measures were almost erratic. It does affect business — people are afraid to run productions because of the uncertainty and laborious preparations; clients are afraid to commit because they’re unsure. We had to delay one production, inclusive of payment, by about three months because of the restrictions.”
Relief measures, like two months of rental waiver last year, have also petered out. “The compounding effect is, for a few of my peers and I at least, we are burning out quite badly after having to juggle the challenge of keeping our businesses afloat. The thought of closing for good has come across my mind a few times.”
Thankfully, studios enjoy more leeway than most, says Audi. “We are in this privileged position where despite restrictions, we were covered by Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) advisories that allowed us to hold productions with up to 30 persons, but now at 50 persons. It did feel like we lived in a completely different reality from other industries.”
The biggest disruption studios could face now is another surprise tightening of restriction measures, he states. “I understand the need for it, but for small businesses like us, we do not have the luxury of manpower and financial resources to juggle administrative work in the middle of projects.”
“Each time we have to ‘fight fires’ with clients when new restrictions are announced, I do wonder about its impact on our reputation as a business,” he adds. “We have plenty of freelancers and vendors down the line already running on very thin margins. When a project is delayed, the payment cycle is delayed, and that’s another month of waiting for them; and we get the blame for it!”
Fighting fit
Meanwhile, fitness studios have all but returned to normal, albeit with masking in place. When the “circuit breaker” halted classes at Ground Zero — a fitness studio on Cross Street offering indoor cycling and strength training — director Jeong Fok took a “very big hit”. Even after the initial lockdowns last year, the four-year-old studio earned just 20% to 30% of pre-Covid-19 levels, said the 36-year-old in 2020. In the doldrums last December, Fok is much chirpier these days. “Everyone is facing similar challenges and limitations due to the pandemic. But I think everyone is doing the best they can. We are just grateful to have such a supportive community to be there with us every step of the way!”
Just like F&B businesses, gyms and fitness studios went from receiving 60% of wage subsidies in July and August under the JSS to just 10% between Nov 22 and Dec 19, signalling a gradual return to normal. The gym has even taken advantage of the current situation to introduce new programmes and workouts. “I think we are already doing the best we can,” he adds. “We just got to work through this pandemic together as a whole; stay proactive and socially responsible.”
A jolt for business
Technology company Aftershock was a rare bright spot in our story last year, as demand for the homegrown firm’s gaming computers and Prism+ monitors outpaced supply. “Since we spoke, Aftershock PC has been going from strength to strength,” says a spokesperson this year, with a list of new product launches and even the “Artisan series”, a new tier of ready-toship personal computers. “As the first and largest player in this space, Aftershock PC continues to lead the pack as a market innovator… The speed of our launches and our extensive range exemplifies this, and differentiates us [from others].”
Last year, Aftershock co-founder Joe Wee says the company received about $500,000 in wage subsidies from the JSS. It then expanded its team to meet growing demand. Even with a larger team, the pandemic has forced Aftershock to develop a new workflow. The spokesperson adds: “Covid-19 led to us pivoting from an allunder-one-roof concept, where all functions of our business existed within a singular combined area, to contained silos that are in proximity to each other. This allows us to maintain business continuity even if certain functions were impacted by an infection, while ensuring the safety of our employees and our customers.”
With the Covid-19 Omicron variant looming on the horizon, Aftershock hopes local businesses can receive more assistance “to capture the public eye”. “While we have seen some success in this area, Aftershock PC is far from a household name, and it is a struggle for attention as we continue to adapt and pivot while challenging larger international brands with bigger budgets.”
Efficient patient care
As the pandemic wore on and cases surged, much of the spotlight was placed on the public healthcare system — be it bed capacity, medical staff resigning or the “alphabet soup” of Covid-19 terms, referring to the many abbreviations and acronyms for healthcare procedures like tests and facilities, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
But private hospitals, which used to cater to a market of wealthy foreign patients, found themselves facing a surge in local patients as the more well-heeled turned to private hospitals for their non-Covid-19 related procedures and acute care.
Dr Peng Chung Mien, group CEO of the Farrer Park Company — which owns Farrer Park Hospital (FPH) and One Farrer Hotel — tells The Edge Singapore that the privately-held hospital has grown its top and bottom lines, but did not give specifics. This is because FPH has seen its foreign patient load filled by local patients, so much so that the hospital has had to rework some of its processes to adapt as some foreign patients return via vaccinated travel lanes.
Last year, Peng revealed that foreign patients who are unable to get the care they need in their own country could be granted special access to Singapore. FPH’s specialists could then apply to the Ministry of Health for them to fly in for care in Singapore.
This year, however, he has stopped this, as local patients have taken up his bed space. “It’s a happy problem... Last time, I had spare beds, and the government hospitals were very busy. So, they can send more straightforward cases to me. But now, my beds are full.”
Peng also says the hospital has had to streamline its discharge processes to turn beds around quicker. One way is through a “discharge lounge”, where patients who are ready to leave can wait in the lounge for their paperwork to be cleared, while the room is prepared for the next patient immediately.
He has also opened FPH to contribute to the national healthcare need, reserving a quarter of his capacity to take in Covid-19 patients. As of Nov 19, FPH can take 20 Covid-19 patients, and has plans to expand this to 25 soon.
Manpower problems
The main limitation, Peng adds, has been the difficulty in hiring nurses and healthcare workers. This reflects media reports earlier this year, which showed that the number of healthcare workers here has dropped for the first time in 15 years. Peng also says FPH is equipped to take in most Covid-19 cases, even those who need oxygen, but does not take in ICU patients. “We don’t have the nurses to take in ICU patients,” he adds, as ICU patients need a higher nurse-to-patient ratio.
The hospital is also supporting the national fight against Covid-19 by offering the Sinopharm vaccine, which Singapore has authorised under its Special Access Route (SAR) framework. Vaccines authorised under the SAR framework have to be paid for by the patient and the patient will have to bear the cost of treatment for any adverse effects — unlike the Pfizer, Moderna and Sinovac shots, which are free under Singapore’s national vaccination programme.
However, Peng is quick to say that he does not intend to run this vaccine programme “as a business”. There are also no plans for FPH to bring in other vaccines authorised under SAR, and that this is purely an initiative for the hospital to do its part for the national healthcare need.
Moving forward, FPH is aiming to fill a niche in the healthcare system by exploring the possibility of setting up a convalescent facility in sections of One Farrer Hotel to allow patients who have no need of acute care to recover there, while still being able to be monitored and transferred back to FPH if needed. “Currently, the issue is that when a patient is ready for discharge, the family — especially dual-income ones — may not be able to make the arrangements to be able to take him back. So, they ask for the patient to be held in the hospital,” Peng adds. This not only means that the patient has to pay for the additional charges of the stay at the acute hospital rate, but the hospital cannot take in another patient that needs acute care.
As such, he says the setting up of such a facility will help recovering patients to still have medical care and recover in a hospital setting, while paying reduced rates and freeing up acute bed space.
When will it all end?
As a medical doctor, when does Peng think the pandemic will subside? “I think we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In 2022, things will normalise more,” he says in an interview on Nov 18. Despite Singapore seeing hundreds of new cases a day, he also notes that 98% of patients are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.
Peng adds: “To [aim for] zero cases like China, it’s not real, it’s not sustainable. I think for us, 2,000 to 3,000 [new cases a day], it’s quite steady. We cannot touch 5,000 or 10,000; we will be in trouble. But we also can’t expect 100 or 200 cases a day. That will not happen.”
Covid-19 is going to become like the flu, he continues: “But we don’t want people to die. For those who are vaccinated, [most] don’t die, they are well, so the [current] strategy is correct... That’s why we are opening up.”
Could the Omicron variant derail these reopening plans? As of early December, neither Singapore nor the World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to announce a reversal from “pandemic mode”, replies Peng, adding that this decision is based on what the world knows now. As more information emerges, the situation could change.
