Man caught on camera stealing food, eatery owners offer free meal to anyone in need

With the pandemic hitting everyone hard, the owners of an Ang Mo Kio eatery have voiced out their stance on the circulated screengrab of a man caught stealing food from their store. They said that should the man have been in dire need of food, he could have asked instead of stolen.

Screengrabs of CCTV footage capturing a man stealing food from an Ang Mo Kio Eatery have been circulating online. On Friday (August 21), the owners of the store posted their stance on the matter at hand and explained that this time around, they would not be filing a police report. They did, however, urge the man to simply ask next time instead of secretly taking from their livelihood. The notice was posted on the Facebook page of Food in The Woods 小树林.

“(T)his is not to shame the uncle (yes we have close up of his masked face, but we chose mainly back view pics), but more to deter and warn (him and others against taking the ingredients),” the post read. “More importantly, we understand there might be people in real need and if so, pls just walk in and ask for a free meal. It’s really ok!”

The store owners gave the public a look into their context as well as that of other food store owners. “Every dollar earned could translate to perhaps, five cents, after all the deductions,” they wrote. “But every dollar lost in costs, is a full dollar. And all the losses when we have no noodles, kway teow, or tofu to offer for today — just because you took our raw materials away.”

The store owners also shared that over time, they had seen their share of people taking from them without paying. “Let’s all spare a little more thought about taking, and to take just what we need,” they reminded.

They then singled out the man who was caught stealing from their store and told him that they did not file a formal report with the police. They did, however, encourage him to just do the right thing by letting them know if he was in dire need of food. “Dear Mister captured, please stop taking what is not yours,” the statement wrote. “No police report this time, but we wouldn’t be so nice next time. And if you (or anyone) are really in need (or) going hungry, please just let us know. A free hot meal is always more warming.”