SINGAPORE: A woman took to social media to share that her immediate HDB neighbours, an elderly couple, kept giving her their “leftover food.”
“For example, they went out to restaurants, can’t finish and dabao the food then pass to us. I appreciate the gesture, but a lot of times, they pass me the food at 9pm. I already had my meals, so the food are left untouched and then thrown away soon after,” the woman explained on r/askSingapore on Sunday (Feb 18).
The woman, who was recently admitted to the hospital for food poisoning, also stated that she is uncomfortable leaving the food until the next day because she is now paranoid about food poisoning.
She also said that there were times when she would eat the extra portions of their cooking if it were close to the next mealtime.
“Usually they show up with the left over, I would tell them it’s ok, cos I’m already very full. Then they would insist I take them because ” they can’t finish and it’s a waste anyway”. So I paisay just accept the stuffs. For non perishables like cookies, I would gladly accept it and I usually would reciprocate them back,” the woman said.
Shen then asked her fellow Singaporean Redditors if she was being ungrateful for secretly not wanting them to pass her their leftovers.
“That’s not ungrateful, I feel like they are treating you like a rubbish bin”
Singaporean Redditors who read and left a comment on her post assured her that it was not “ungrateful” of her.
One Redditor said, “That’s not ungrateful; I feel like they are treating you like a rubbish bin. I would get offended if anyone passed me their leftovers.”
Another Redditor commented, “I think if they cook extra, it’s okay to give neighbours, but leftovers from the restaurant are a little not nice. Who wants to eat people’s leftovers…Either way they should still respect your no. Just say no you’re not going to eat it. They can try other neighbors, keep for themselves or throw away. It’s not your problem.”
Other Redditors explained that this practice was common among the older generation, who saw it as a form of kindness.
One Redditor said, “I believe you’re suffering from a generational gap issue. The old generation would do this as a gesture of friendship and love. What I usually do is, take it, thank them and if there’s no use for me, just throw it down the chute. They are happy, I don’t waste much time, and food anyway goes to waste, collected by the town council person in the same vehicle.”
Another Redditor, who thought it would be best to be honest, said, “I think you should just be outright about your weak stomach and experience in hospital from food poisoning (hint: you can even insinuate it could be caused by food from them).”
Read also: Bird Cages vs Laundry Lines: Neighbours fight over HDB common area
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