Customers at 25 hawker centres will soon be charged a fee if they do not return their food trays at the tray return area. Customers are these hawker centres will be required to pay a deposit between S$0.50 and S$1 when they use a tray. This amount will be returned to them if they return their tray at the appropriate station.
This change is part of the new Automated Tray Return System (ATRS) that is being implemented at the 25 hawker centres, starting with Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre, which will charge 50 cents deposit per tray, and Bukit Merah Hawker Centre, which will charge a dollar for the same.
This move will supposedly allow cleaners to clean tables more quickly for the use of more customers.
However, hawkers at Marsiling Mall and Bukit Merah Central hawker centres claim that up to 90 per cent of customers refuse to pay for and use a tray all together, since the tray deposit scheme came into effect, even though their deposit will be refunded in full if they return the tray.
Hawkers say that used utensils and food scraps are still left on tables for cleaners to clear while customers at these hawker centres explained to reporters that they consider the tray return system a hassle.
One customer, banker Felix Lim, said: “Hawker food is meant to be ‘eat quick, eat cheap, then zhao already’. Now you want people to queue up to buy food, then queue up to return tray again? Siao ah. It’s a damn stupid idea.”
Another customer, pharmacist Megan Oh, asked: “Last time at hawker centres, the stall owner will serve you the meal then clear the dishes for you. Now, you have to take the food yourself, then return the dishes yourself. So prices go up, but service standards drop. Does this make sense?”
The ATRS scheme was recommended by the Hawker Centre 3.0 Committee which was convened to lower hawkers’ workload and boost productivity in the face of manpower challenges in the industry.
While 23 other hawker centres are expected to adopt the system, it remains to be seen whether the system will be incorporated in the remaining centres in light of the findings at Marsiling Mall and Bukit Merah Central food centres.
Ok la. Let’s all tell stall owners that we tabao, but eat at the tables, nothing wrong with this.
They charge extra for dapao also
Some don’t. As long as don’t ask for containers.
At most 20c for the white Styrofoam boax
Good idea!!!!
All nonsense .if not happy don’t patronise .don’t eat .thing will change.
I did all the time.
When it backfires so hard you need PREP-H to ease the pain. >.<
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Previously, stalls hired hands to serve the food, then 'self-service' came into effect. Now, beyond self-service, patrons ACTUALLY PAY to help themselves?
Logic is up their arse.
I really wouldn't mind returning the trays out of my own free will (which I always do) to help the staff. But if you are going to penalise me for something I should out of goodwill, I'd tell you, "UP YOURS!"
Ministar pay also go up and they aren’t doing a bang up job either. I guess that’s how things are these days.
Since its going to be that way. Shall we do away with government and do it ourselves? lol.
Should rephrase… That is how things are here.
It might be difficult to fathom but this is not the case everywhere. Uniquely you-know-where.
Things have always been this way. Maybe you’re realizing it now because you finally recognize how spoilt you are.
savage lol
Not to forget self pay too!
We pay for food. Q for it and the food ourselfies. Somemore self pay. Now want us to return. In near future nea may want us to clean table if we dirty it.
Best eat at foodcourt and coffeeshop….not need to be so troublesome…return of tray….
They only know to use this only one SOP. Use money to manage the country.
Next time go hawker. Cannot eat there liao. Must ta bao.
Extra 30 cents and they won’t use your container
Aiyo bring our own home cook food(。温馨便当。) like the Japanese lah and go to the hawker centre and eat lah, at most buy mandon drink hehe. Good suggestion right.
If only everyone, cleans up after eating. Then all this is not needed. Banker so rich and asked to pay 50cents already make noise.
Muhd Faisal kindly don’t beat me up ok.
lame news sia this. just return la whats the fucking deal. writer lame sia
Come to Japan where you clear your tables and clean after you use. And the tables are pretty spotless. plus they use alcohol to clean tables and trays are so clean that we eat on the trays.
But they have harakiri.
Hahaha
Max Ho seriously you got owned by Gerry Ng. Perhaps try asking Khaw boon wan to harakiri then we will behave like the Japs.
If we want the ministers to do like those in Japan, then the people must also have the same attitude and mentality like the Japanese.
Besides when was the last time a Japanese minister committed harikiri? It is still practiced by the yakuza tho. Are our secret society members doing the same??
Gerry Ng who commit harikiri in Japan now?
Singapore still have detention without trial. But Singapore still lose coz we don’t have an AV industry
Alvin Pereira which Japanese minister committed harikiri?
Michael G R Lum that I agree with you. There are some aspects of Japanese values n culture we should adopt n hopefully practice.
Alvin Pereira we are instigators of our own change. We cannot force change others but we can correct ourselves. With all of us adopting, it will be a better place.
Max Ho our ministers do not have the same attitude as the Japanese ones because Singaporeans are different from the Japanese. And it’s a chicken and egg situation with each party wanting the other party to change first.
Michael G R Lum I agree with you
Max Ho when JFK said, “ask not what your country can do for you but what can you do for your country”, tens of thousands Americans rise to the occasion and went to war.
What do you think will happen in Singapore?
Michael G R Lum we probably have a civil war hahahaha
Max Ho we already are at war! 30% vs 70%, the former think the latter are dumb yet they do not realize their lives are dictated by the dumb. Meanwhile the dumb ones are hinting very loudly to the Oppositions to stop clowning around and give them a credible alternative. However it seem quite useless because till now we have Mr. it takes two years to find a cost effective fix for a roller shutter, Mr. I can’t get a job because no one wants to hire me and cross the PAP but fail to mention he has a brother who is a judge and senior counsel and finally Mr. I go to parliament, you can have the town council, please vote for daddy so we can have presents.
Max Ho
We are not talking about Japan now. Didn’t u read the post.
Singapore
Kok Meng Fong it’s about cultural practices now. How can we adopt some practice for the better good. That’s all.
Japan got AV, we don’t have.
Japan minister dont take million $ insalary.
Yep Chien Chiang they make up by taking bribes.
This happened when decision makings fall in the hands of a bunch who are very out of touch from reality
Who s the dumb child who came up with this
Probably one of the elite President Scholar military brainwashed parachuted to position type and never been to hawker center genius
I dont understand whats the fuss about ,the sporean have chosen PAP ,now the PAP is the one who makes the choices for you ,most of you are thinking that spore is a 1st world country everything is done for you ,even when you eat with your family like the chinese they expect the table to be clean and avaliable at all times ,you vote for a system for your well being and yet you hate the system ,so why vote for PAP than since you hate their system ,if this is a communist gov than be it .
David. So u are saying u don’t expect ur table to be clean when u eat, like the Indians ?
But in singapore most people are behaving as stupid as you lol,if the table is dirty than why dont u eat somewhere else ,you still want to clean yourself and make sure you stink ,guess your wife stinks as well like you,ha.
I didn’t vote 屁A屁。 Those Fucking 69.8% Sinkaporeans vote them .
Sui walter, y must u bring indians in this comment?
Pretty sure those complaining are from the 30% who didn’t vote for the PAP.
Mohan Mohan if u can read like the Indians, David brought the race factor in first
David Caleb ahhh David so u want to be personal with me huh? Well I Guess stupid or not, u already showed the world how stupid u are, with ur comments.
N stink or not, it’s not as stinky as ur mother’s pussy yes ?
For every damn thing, some people will link it to PAP. Com’on, this is moral values, whether PAP or SDP, good civic mindedness should be practice at all times, regardless Indian or Chinese.
70%…
Michael G R Lum Ya
Sui Walter A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely” fool”proof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
Mirrors can’t talk, lucky for you they can’t laugh either.
Barry Allen well…. Still, u don’t have to be so hard on yourself. Lucky for u mirrors can’t show wat an idiotic mind one has.
Scholars work again???
The winners are…. the landlords
Very soon , we have to wash the dishes for the hawker too
I eat at hawker centres n also much lesser at Food courts. At both places I normally return trays after eating, out of habit and not being forced upon to do so. I will continue to do so and avoid Centres which enforce rules of charging if one does not comply.
I see this enforced rule is overreaching n hence the silent protest on part of customers.
Dont wry folks, since ppl dont wanna use trays, next stage they will collect deposit for plates and cutlery. Dont want tray can, but dont want plate and cutlery cannot what . Like that ppl must carry portable dining tools with them already
I will bring my own then after eating I wash there the pack my stuff and go away!
Hawkers at this food centre already been charge for plates n cuterly. That’s why prices went up.
I dont blame these poor hawkers, if their cost of operation increase they also bopian
Ask for take away. The health minister is finding ways to get for income but with less responsibility. They use the word social entrepreneur but still charge thousands for the stall and now hawker has to pay for the social entrepreneur CEO and the management salary beside the tray
Best is bring your own paper plates n disposable cutlery buy takeaways, eat n move out. Not that food is reasonably priced.
Who isn’t tired of paying and paying
Vote blindly lah…
What to do, oppositions like clowns
Fucking PAP idea. Vote for pap again no more freedom will tell where to put your dick up or down Singapoorean better wake up your fucking idea.
This is Swiss Standard….WTF
Put that thoughts and analogy to the current government standard of work and salaries… now pound your chest and scratch your head…
Like x 1000
Singapore is a case study by many countries. If it works here it will work in another country. No matter who or what you vote nothing will change.
Blame the Oppositions! They are the ones who can’t come up with an alternative to the ruling party even after half a century!!!
Self service is not a drop in service standards. It’s a different form of service standard.
Supermarkets imposed a deposit for trolleys and they get returned. So why is a deposit for trays such a big issue.
Unless Singaporeans are simply just spoilt and self centered! Therefore a need to impose a rule that hurts their pocket to make them behave.
if i queue for my food, i am serving myself , aka self-service.
who am i serving if i return the tray ??
supermarkets imposed deposit for trolleys because the trolleys can be abused and stolen..
this is not self-centredness.. if you have a business problem , pay someone to take care of it..
if you cannot manage your costs, don’t do business. then you have no cost issue..
You want someone to pay for your problem , wait long long..
what’s next ?? legislate a law ??
Get your mind right…!!
Well said!
I can do without the tray. It’s foolish to pay for something I don’t need at all. With or without tray doesn’t make any difference.
In my thoughts, in a developed country , people are civil n courteous enough to look out after themselves , clear the area after use considerately for the next person to use. That’s first world. If we insist and expect someone do the dirty job for us , clearly we are not ready to be considered a gracious enough society. Especially if the someone is elderly and usually not so agile and strong in body .
in a developed country, if you talk nicely , use your brains to change consumer habits and patterns like Uber, people will accept.
in a develop country, you don’t make people pay for your problems…
Agree! Civil , graciousness and socially responsible citizens are part of being a developed country. Don’t see what’s the issue of returning your tray and getting your deposit back?! It’s same for your MTR cards!
If only these complaining Singaporeans get a chance to live abroad and frequently hear of how they are the envy of citizens of other Asian nations where Singapore enjoys political stability, where most citizens own their homes ( and not small even ) , clean and safe country with its citizens capable of speaking a minimum of 2 basic languages , they should be proud of themselves and advance their mindset and behavior to be civil and courteous and socially responsible society.
Making an issue over a refundable deposit of $0.50 cents-$1 , just ridiculous !
Money use to buy graciousness. That would not work you stupid committee 3.0. You are so stupid to believe money will work all the time.
So true to the statement! I clear my dishes to allow the next user to sit for his/her food. At the same time ease the workload of the old cleaners. It is an ethical way to live and not be imposed with such laws …..stupid committee.
What to be surprised about the way NEA is going about on this return tray ideal? The Pinky’s white termite gang has applied systematic ” monetary coercion ” and “leegal intimidation” to bully the people for past 50years!! so it is passed down to all gov. org . to think and act that way or consciously or unconsciously!!!! nahbeh !!!
But 70% of those idiots don’t mind leh
Yes last time hawkers willing to bring the food to u. Now no.
Why? It is the nature of food court .
Who come up this concept?
PAP
Please don’t say we taking high salaries n never come up with super good ideas.
Return tray or pay more is just one great idea that needed top brainy guys like ours to come up with.
No blaming culture… Please.
Good reference but dont make sense but definitely dollar and cents for some people! Seller and customer relationship has gone in existent too. Now is, you buy, you pay and I give your food. Thats all!
A question please if I pay a tray deposit but I didnt return the tray after my meal what will happen to the tray deposit?
The cleaner keeps the tips….l
OK lah ,only 10% stupid CB ..
Agree with you David Caleb
Prices goes up is because the rental goes up; ask you to take the food yourself is because hawkers no longer can afford hiring staff because of high rental, ask you to return the trays yourself is because they wanted to stop hiring old people to collect the trays so they can eat the hiring money. Plain and easy.
Those elites before think such scheme also never think of what will happen sia
If you want to patronise these places then don’t complain, just like who you vote.
aiyah……Sinkies are a weird bunch……job security and CPF return – not important…….but make big fuss over tray returns……..no wonder FTs are taking over the CUNTry………
No need trays… we order 3 or more plates of food, then we slowly bring it to our table, 1 by 1, then jam up the queue, see whether the hawkers will agree to the tray system or not.
So true
In South Korea , it is common and normal Social Responsibility to return your non-chargeable trays after use ( in food courts ). You will be stared at if you don’t clean up after use!
South Korea have hawker centre meh?
This stupid scheme must be thought of by someone who has nvr eat in hawker centre before. Idiotic scheme. They think they can earn from this??
What a moronic idea. End up piss people off don’t patronize it’s the hawkers who will suffer.
Last time is when? When we don’t have so many foreigners. Let’s face it; we didn’t ensure that we have 1st world mentality which begins in the home & è education system. If we had encouraged such values which can’t buy, then this issue won’t arise. Good habits are learned but as they say; take 3 days to be bad but 3 yrs to be good. It begins with us, so let’s not point fingers anymore. We may not all be elites but we’re God’s children made in His image so let’s behave as 1. God bless!
LOL that was then, this is NOW.
You want THEN? Go build a time machine
Every now n then they increased in food price n want to clear plates for them ? Sound stupid who create this ideas!
Fuck it since you guys voted for this what can you do now? So fuck it
Absolutely..
No Ducking Sense
We all pay for Service Rendered To Us
Not
Pay To Render Service.
Singaporeans are 3rd world citizens.
I Ikea. Most Customers happily cooperate. What is their secret?
Just boycott the hawker centres that implement it and the tray deposit will be gone soon
In SG everything make sense……
A new way to help the rich hawker center owners to make money and reduce employing older people. Great gov we have that seem to find so many way to kill the older gen. By the time those 40 yr old retire they’ll have to commit suicide if they don’t have money to survive.
Some tray and plates collecter old people who really need the job to support themselves might lose the job too and become jobless
Very true.
I don’t support paying for the tray but sometimes bought too much food then no choice.
I usually will return the tray first after putting all my foods on the dinning table.