Chinatown fruit vendor in viral video denies being rude to US tourists

SINGAPORE: In a recent video that went viral on Instagram, a woman in charge of a fruit stall in Chinatown had a heated exchange with an older gentleman after she refused to answer questions from a group of tourists from the United States.

However, the vendor has spoken up, telling her side of the story and claiming there was more than what had been captured in the video.

She has spoken to Shin Min Daily News, saying that her conscience is clear regarding the whole situation.

“You’re very rude,” the uncle shouted loudly at the fruit stall vendor after he stepped in and answered the tourists’ questions himself.

The encounter was posted by an Instagram user who goes by @sophisticated_beauty_868 on February 10. Since then, many commenters have agreed with the uncle’s characterisation of the vendor as rude and applauded him for standing up to the vendor. Others told the post author that her behaviour does not represent Singapore.

However, another commenter wrote that they “used to work around Chinatown, I bought fruits from them regularly, and they are very nice aunties. There are 2 sides to every story. Please don’t judge them hastily.”

Others spoke up for the vendor and her fellow female stall holder, saying that their encounters with them have generally been pleasant.

The woman in the video told Shin Min Daily News that the tourists had not only asked a lot of questions, but they also handled the fruit none too gently, which understandably upset the vendor.

The video only showed what happened 10 minutes into the encounter, when the tourists had been pressing and squeezing some of the fruits for some time. They also only wanted to buy a small portion of some of the fruit, which the vendor was selling only by the whole package.

When one group member tried to pay, she did not have enough Singapore dollars to do so, which led to more questions as to whether they could pay by card or with US dollars.

This prompted the vendor to ask if the group had intentions of buying any fruit at all.

In addition to declaring that her conscience was clear, she said that she always does her best to accommodate customers.

However, “when we occasionally encounter unreasonable tourists, it’s hard not to feel angry,” she added.

On the Instagram post, another commenter said, “I can attest that these 2 aunties are not rude. They just don’t want to waste time as they have plenty of things to do. You want excellent and full service, go to Orchard Road.”

Another netizen who had spoken to the vendor wrote, “Aunty said they were already asking many questions before the video, and also told her they wanted to buy $2 worth of fruits, so aunty walked away to serve other customers. Then came to this moment in the video.” /TISG

Read also: ‘You’re very rude!’ — Singaporean uncle steps in after Chinatown fruit vendor refuses to answer tourist’s question