Newton Circus Hawker Centre (1971–2005) Newton Food Hawker Centre was one of the first two hawker centres built by the Government to house illegal street hawkers, with the other being
Adam Road Food Centre. Construction began in November 1970 at a cost of , and officially opened in January 1971. Newton housed 56 hawkers who previously operated along Bukit Timah Road, without proper hygiene facilities. Due to its close proximity to the city, many tourists patronised Newton. However, incidents of serving only tourists and overcharging rose gradually. In December 1988, hawkers were warned that they have to serve all customers equally, or be answerable to the Ministry of Environment. In November 1991, a stall made the headlines after showing two sets of prices for the same dishes — $3, $4, $5 beside the signage, and $6, $8, $10 in Japanese. The stallowner claimed that the dishes and portions were different, hence the different set of prices. In December 1992, an Indonesian tourist wrote in to
The New Paper detailing his overcharging experience at Newton: On 14 October 1994, the
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced plans to demolish the hawker centre to ease traffic congestion at
Newton Circus and develop high-density residential properties. Members of the public and hawkers voiced concern and pleaded URA to reconsider the plans. On 30 April 2004, Member of Parliament for
Tanglin–Cairnhill Indranee Rajah announced the closure of Newton for a major renovation, effectively shelving the plans by URA.
Newton Food Centre Costing , Newton Circus Hawker Centre reopened as Newton Food Centre on 1 July 2006, housing 83 hawkers. ==Controversies==