Our Survey
Amidst a small source base of Mama Shops academically and journalistically, there is a current gap in the perception that Singaporeans hold towards the Mama Shop. Hence, we created this survey to try to understand how Singaporeans feel about Mama Shops to help with our understanding of the plight Mama Shop owners face today. From our survey results, we garnered interesting data that we want to show you. If you are interested in completing the survey form yourself, you can do by clicking the button below!
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How often do you visit a Mama Shop?
To our surprise, only a minority of our respondents visit a Mama Shop often in their day-to-day lives. While the majority of them rarely visit the Mama Shop, only going monthly or not at all. This shocked some of us because the locations of Mama Shops, commonly below HDBs or at MRT stations, seemed convenient for people to buy what they needed. Let's continue below to understand why there is such a phenomenon.
If your answer is "not in the past year", what are the reasons for the lack of visits to mama shops?
From our survey results, we can see that our respondents do not go to Mama Shops because they do not have a Mama Shop in their neighbourhood. For others, it is a conscious choice as they prefer convenience stores such as 7/11 and Cheers, while the remaining do not go for any specific reason. This hints at the decline in Mama Shops in Singapore. But why is that so?
If your answer is "not in the past year", what are the reasons for the lack of visits to mama shops?
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What challenges do you think Mama Shops are facing today?
Fortunately, the majority of our respondents are aware of the challenges that Mama Shops face today, which also contributes to their decline. It was heartening to see that they do not see the Mama Shops to be a dated and dirty place, but understand the difficulties they face in response to the sharp shift in global circumstances. Despite the setbacks, what about Mama Shops continues to draw their visitation?
Why do you visit Mama Shops?
For those who continue to visit Mama Shops, one of the biggest reasons is their accessibility. Amidst the rising cost of living, it is interesting to note that many visit as they find their prices more affordable. However, we were surprised to see that only a few had personal connections with the owners, as we felt one of the trademarks of Mama Shops is the personal experience they provide. After understanding the reasons for visiting or not visiting the Mama Shop, are there other ways in which the Mama Shops come up in their lives?
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Where have you come across people/or yourself talking about mama shops?
An overwhelming number of respondants observed that Mama Shops are brought up in chats with their friends or family. Conversely, such conversations are not common in media outlets and institutions. Interestingly, a few mentioned discovering Mama Shops just by walking around their neighbourhood. Seeing where and how Mama Shops are talked about, there may be a lack of attention on it institutionally. Still, Mama Shops are part of the communal spirit as it can be a connecting force between people.
We asked our respondents on what do Mama Shops mean to them, and this is the result:
To many of our respondents, Mama Shops are a large part of their childhood. It is amazing because the majority of our respondents are 17-27 year olds. To the Mama Shop with a long history but declining in numbers today, they still form a large part of people's lives and become a special place especially for children. By extension, many also noted how Mama Shops forms a source of nolstagia to them. Despite the good news, we are concerned with how the Mama Shops are associated with nolstagia. This is because we feel Mama Shops are not just something to be remembered and left in the past, but brought forth with us into the future so it becomes a part of more people's childhood.