A GROUP of youngsters launched the ‘Dabao Penang’ to help promote businesses for hawkers who are not tech-savvy with digital platform.
Dabao Penang founder Yew Yik Khai said the public could play a part in giving publicity to the hawkers by just providing some particulars of the stalls to his team.
“While waiting for your ‘dabao food’, just take out your phone and capture the stall, menu, location, food and also the hawkers.
“You can also submit videos as they will help to attract more people on the social media. Please send us the contact number as well as the operating hours.
“All these information can be submitted via our online form which is available on our Facebook page and Instagram.
“We will then design and post about the stalls on our social media platform to help the hawkers get more exposure,” said Yew during a press conference held via zoom today.
Yew also said his team has introduced an interactive Dabao map to assist customers navigate to the hawker stalls published on their social media platform.
“Since we launched this programme in late June, we have managed to feature over 70 hawkers from both island and mainland and garnered over 1,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram.
“We appeal to the public to support us and Penang hawkers by following our page @dabaopg on Instagram and ‘Dabao Penang’ on Facebook.
“We aim to map out as many Penang hawkers as possible to become a Penang hawker food directory eventually.
“So, come and share with us your favourite hawkers via our social media pages. The hawkers themselves can also submit the particulars of their stalls to our team,” said Yew.
Dabao Penang designer Allison Lee, who was present, said the programme caters especially to many elderly hawkers who are not tech-savvy enough to promote their business online.
“Most of the platforms are in English, which is another challenge for a number of hawkers.
“Moreover, the delivery platforms charge high commission rates, leaving the hawkers with little profit,” Lee added.
Meanwhile, state Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin commended the initiative undertaken by the youngsters who are providing the service on a voluntary basis.
“This is a good move by our young people to further boost the hawkers who are digitally-disadvantaged.
“Our hawkers are the unique identity of Penang. Thus, this programme is vital to ensure the sustenance of Penang hawkers as it can boost their confidence during challenging times such as this,” said Yeoh
Submission of photos or videos of the stalls as well as the particulars can be made at the following link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10O2wDhUpJdoi0jVrLB4g5hGIQuIDlyjevD-apIOHowI/edit?usp=sharing
For further inquiries can email to [email protected]
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Muhamad Amir Mersyad Omar