HDB to take back premises of Yishun cafe that allegedly operated as pub

SINGAPORE – A cafe on the ground floor of a Yishun public housing block has been ordered by the Housing Board to cease operations and return the premises to HDB by next Thursday.

This comes after complaints from residents in June about noise, littering and rowdy behaviour by patrons of the Hood Vibes cafe, which serves alcohol, at Block 468A Yishun Street 43.

Nee Soon GRC MP Derrick Goh said in a Facebook post last week that he had also checked out the cafe after hearing feedback that a pub had opened there, and did not recognise most of the patrons as Nee Soon Link residents.

Queried by The Straits Times, HDB said the unit had been rented out for use as a cafe.

HDB said it had found, during several visits to the cafe to investigate the residents’ complaints, that the tenant had breached the terms of the tenancy.

It added: “While the premises were rented out for use as a cafe to serve food and beverages to residents throughout the day, our inspections found that it was operating from 4.30pm to 10pm and selling mainly alcoholic beverages.

“There was no food menu, nor food being served to customers at the cafe during our visits.”

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HDB said the tenant has not been cooperative, despite its repeated warnings to the tenant to stop the unauthorised use of the premises, and to operate the cafe as stated in the tenancy agreement.

HDB then served a Notice to Quit on the tenant in July, requiring the cafe to stop operations and the premises returned by next Thursday.

In an Instagram post a week ago, Hood Vibes said it was closed till further notice.

The proprietor of Hood Vibes told Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News last week that the cafe has an alcohol licence, and that it played only “soft background music”.

Speaking to ST, Mr Goh said that residents had sent him screen grabs of Hood Vibes’ earlier Instagram posts advertising their sale of alcohol.

In one post on June 24, Hood Vibes described itself as the “newest bar in the hood”.

The post has since been edited to read the “newest cafe in the hood”.

        View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by @hoodvibes.sg

“HDB and the authorities have done a full investigation and the feedback from my residents have been addressed,” said Mr Goh.

ST has contacted Hood Vibes for comment.

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