Tiger Beer’s RM1.5 Million Save Our Street Food Fund During the MCO
When Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) began in 2020, our favourite hawker stalls, coffee shops and food courts were among the hardest hit. Many street food vendors depend on daily walk-in customers, and with dine-in banned, their income dropped almost overnight while rent still had to be paid.
The Save Our Street Food Fund
On 17 April 2020, Tiger Beer announced a RM1.5 million fund to help. The money went towards rent for street food vendors in coffee shops and food courts across the country. RM1 million was released straight away, benefiting vendors in more than 1,200 outlets nationwide.
How the Public Could Help
The campaign also let the public chip in. You could buy a RM10 voucher for a big bottle of Tiger or Tiger Crystal (usually RM17) to redeem once coffee shops reopened. For every voucher redeemed, the outlet received the RM10 plus the full RM17 value from Tiger, so each purchase gave a local coffee shop a real boost. Tiger also worked with the Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors General Association on further support.
Why It Matters
Street food is the heart of Malaysian food culture. Many of the dishes I write about, from nasi lemak to char kuey teow, come from small family-run stalls that have been cooking the same recipes for decades. Losing them would mean losing part of who we are.
The MCO is behind us now, but hawkers still face rising costs. The simplest way to support them is to keep eating local: visit your neighbourhood kopitiam, try a new stall, and share your favourites with friends. Every plate counts.
