Dessert stall owner says his assistant was screamed at and shamed by customers who were refused extra bowls

SINGAPORE: A dessert stall owner took to Facebook after he said one of his “auntie hawker” assistants was yelled at and shamed by a group of diners after they were refused extra bowls.

He appealed to people to be reasonable when asking for extras, explaining that giving them out is not always feasible. “Please when making request, for extra chopsticks, chili, bowl, sauces plate etc, please take what you need and request only what is reasonable ….. please, for $3.60 and ask for extra 5 bowl will mean we need to wash 7 bowl for $3.60 and all the bullying we may encounter when we refuse is really depressing.”

Mr Foo Choong Lim wrote on the Hawkers United – Dabao 2020 Facebook page on Saturday (Mar 11) that at his Ang Mo Kio Hawker center stall that day, a woman bought two desserts for a total of $3.60.

She asked for an extra bowl and helped herself to the disposable spoons available.

However, one of the woman’s companions came over to ask for four more extra bowls.

Mr Lim wrote that this request was refused because the stall has a limited number of bowls daily, but the assistant offered takeaway bowls at $.20 each.

This appeared to make the customers angry.

“What happen next is a(n) ugly sight that involved screaming, her whole group stand in front of the store and shaming at my auntie and keep saying ‘没人这样做生意的!’ (no one does business this way!), for a good few mins and demand for the number of the person in charge and give a twisted version of the incident and threaten we will be ‘famous’,” wrote Mr Lim.

He then went on to explain the difficulties hawkers face daily, from limited spaces for storing bowls and spoons

Moreover, they can only put two containers for the return of used bowls.

Also, the stall charges low prices, with an average of $1.80.

And since they can only wash bowls after closing time, if all the bowls are used during the day, they are forced to give away their bowls for takeaway, which eats “deeply” into their profit.

Mr Lim was quick to say, however, that most of his customers are regulars who are “very nice people.”

/TISG

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