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I came across a post on Stomp by someone named Zhen, who was expressing displeasure about Jin Fish Soup (晶鱼汤) located at KPT Kopitiam at 401 Hougang Avenue 10. According to Stomper Zhen, the stall rejected the takeaway containers and charged the Stomper $0.50 each for 2 noodle dishes instead, amounting to an extra dollar.
Since Hougang isn’t too far from my place, I decided to visit the coffee shop to see if I’ll encounter a situation like the one described by the Stomper. With a metal container like Zhen’s in the picture, I became a ‘private investigator’ of sorts.
It was the peak dinner period and business was bustling at the fish soup stall.
The lady at the stall asked, “What do you want?”
“I’ll takeaway 1 fried fish soup bee hoon with milk please,” I stated, unveiling my metal container, preparing for her potential refusal at any moment.
To my surprise, she accepted my container without charging me or displaying any attitude throughout the interaction. Mind you, I didn’t have a camera, and she had no idea that I’m from the media.
According to the Stomper’s receipt (pictured left above), there was an extra S$1 charge for 2 takeaway containers during lunchtime on 25 Mar 2024. 3 days later, I paid S$6.50 for my dinner order of fried fish bee hoon soup without any charge for bringing my own container.
This got me wondering… what really happened? These are my thoughts:
- Stomper met a particular difficult staff member who rejects customer’s containers and insists to use theirs only
- Stomper is lying or wants to ruin the stall’s reputation for some unknown reason
- The management of Jin Fish Soup saw the Stomper’s post and changed their policy immediately
To the regulars of Jin Fish Soup at Hougang, has your personal takeaway container been rejected by any of the staff members before? Do share with us!
Growing increasingly curious, I began interviewing my hawker centre and coffee shop contacts to gather their perspectives on customers bringing their own containers.
Rio, a native Japanese owner of Nadeshiko allows her customers to bring their own containers. CK, the owner of Eightisfy Western initially felt sorry for the Stomper and felt that the fish soup stall shouldn’t have done that (that was before I told him what I encountered).
He says, “I even ask my regulars to bring their own containers to be more economical and environmentally friendly.”
One of BK Eating House‘s management staff from the coffeeshop at 491 Jurong West said that all the stalls there allow customers to use their own ware to dabao food.
Another anonymous source from a coffeeshop chain, primarily featuring Halal-certified and Muslim-owned stalls, stated that they generally don’t allow food containers that contains food from sources that may be non-Halal.
He says, “as long as the containers are clean and empty in general, most stalls are happy to accommodate. However, that is largely up to each tenant’s discretion.”
The owner of Rui Heng Braised Duck shared, “There’s no point selling the containers, we are collecting on behalf of our suppliers only and not making any profits.” Lu Ge Wanton Mee’s owner also says that they don’t reject customers who bring their own takeaway boxes.
So what are your views on this matter? Do you know of any stalls who reject customers who bring their own boxes? Should stall owners have the right to reject your takeaway ware?
I invite you to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments.
21 best affordable hawker centres in Singapore for delicious local fare [Dec 2024 update]
