Vibrant Hawker Centres

Please note that, in view of COVID-19 situation, the programme is currently put on hold till further notice.

For queries on the Vibrant Hawker Centres Programme, please contact us at sghawkerculture@nea.gov.sg.

About the Programme

The Vibrant Hawker Centres Programme aims to encourage the public to organise community-centric programmes/activities regularly over a sustained period at the hawker centres to increase its vibrancy and encourage greater public ownership of our hawker centres. To incentivise the public to come forward, NEA will provide funding support to “partners” with suitable proposals.

Applicant eligibility

Any individual, team, organisation or institution in Singapore can apply for funding under the Vibrant Hawker Centres Programme if they are not receiving similar funding from another public agency.

Project eligibility

To be eligible for funding support, the applicant’s project must meet the following criteria:

Be community-centric
Relate well to the proposed hawker centre(s) and its surroundings (e.g. nearby residents, patron profile etc)
Be able to enhance vibrancy of hawker centres/foster social-bonding
Use the available space within the hawker centre and should not require major setup

Projects must NOT have commenced at the time of application. The following projects will NOT be supported:

Activities that promote religious/political causes
Busking for monetary returns
Commercial activities e.g. sale of goods / services
Activities that are sensitive in nature

This list is not exhaustive and NEA reserves the right to reject any proposals that do not meet the eligibility criteria.

Funding available

The amount of funding support will depend on the number of events organised. Priority will be given to applicants proposing recurring events in hawker centres. The funding is capped at $2,000 per event and $10,000 for applicants with five or more events per year.

Certain items will not be supported by the funding. The table below shows a few examples of supportable and non-supportable cost items. *Please note that the supportable and non-supportable items listed are not exhaustive. NEA reserves the right to accept or reject any supportable/non-supportable items.

*Supportable Items

*Non-supportable Items

Logistics transport

Purchase of equipment (e.g. sound systems, musical instruments etc)

Rental of equipment

Man-hour cost

Publicity cost for the event

Costs incurred because of pre/post event activities (e.g. rehearsals etc)

Food/Meals on the event day

Disbursement of funds

Disbursement of funds is on a reimbursement basis, for supportable cost items, and must be accompanied by corresponding original/certified true copies of receipts/invoices for supported items within two months of the event’s completion. Applicants would also need to submit an e-invoice on AGD's website, Vendors @ Gov.

Other support available

Other than the available funding, NEA would also be able to lend support in terms of the following:

Provide advice on suitable hawker centres to carry out the proposed event
Facilitate in liaising with the relevant agencies and hawkers’ association to help realise the project