Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
By now, some of you may have already read a Stomp article posted on 31 May 2024 about how a Clementi hawker rudely snatched his extra bowl back from a customer who had refused to pay S$0.50 for it.
Now, for the uninitiated, here’s a little summary of what had happened. On 25 May 2024, Stomper, Josephine, ordered an upsized hor fun for S$5 during lunch and wanted an additional bowl to share it with her 2-year-old daughter.
However, the stall vendor informed her that it would cost an extra S$0.50. That was when she refused to pay, and he took back the bowl in a hostile way.
Being extremely kaypoh by nature and since I was around the neighbourhood for a shoot, I decided to head over to West Coast Market Square to do a little investigation, just like Sherlock Holmes— it has been 9 days since the article got posted.
After exploring the hawker centre grounds, I finally found the stall that matched the picture on Stomp. It was Ah Lee Hokkien Fried Prawn Noodle. According to my uncle who lives in the opposite block, they serve a different menu in the morning.
2 ladies run the stall for breakfast, selling economic bee hoon and yam cake. My uncle spotted the same hawker who sells hor fun in the afternoons, helping them to take orders and pack food. He suspects that the 3 of them might be siblings, but can’t confirm it.
I went ahead and ordered the Hor Fun (S$4.50) which had the usual partners in crime: prawns, fishcake and pork slices. When he finished my order, I expected him to charge me S$0.50 when I asked for an extra bowl. But that didn’t happen— he just quietly gave it to me. I was shocked.
Did he spot me taking photographs of the stall? Did he or his family take notice of the Stomp post, and thus changed his attitude? Was he in a generous mood? All these questions bombarded my mind when I returned to my table.
Some netizens were criticising the stall’s actions (on Facebook) and suggested people to boycott the business. But 2 of them who were on the hawker’s side had this to say:
- “This hawker centre is required for the hawkers to pay for dish washing services. Additional Washing of cutlery and bowls are payable by the hawker to the cleaning vendor assigned.”
- “They are self-employed, they have the right to make decisions of their own.”
- “Many hawkers are forced to pay unwillingly but just can’t utter a word. Consumers just don’t understand the problem they are facing.”
So whose side are you on? Perhaps we are so caught up in how unjust we feel that we have completely forgotten to put ourselves in the hawkers’ shoes. But then again, he could have told Josephine in a nice way, and that could have saved his stall from a humiliating Stomp post.
Will the hawker continue to give out bowls for free after this incident or was I just lucky that day? If you’re a Clementi resident who frequents this stall, try and ask for an empty bowl the next time you dine-in and see what happens.
Hin Fried Hor Fun: Queue-worthy smoky hor fun & mui fan with to-die-for gravy
