Noreen Shazreen, Author at Goody Feed

The thriving culture of chope-ing seats in Singapore has been around for a long time. If you grew up in Singapore your entire life, the sight of a tissue packet or other personal belongings left on a table serves as an implicit signal not to occupy that spot, as it has been choped by someone who temporarily vacated it, perhaps to order food or run errands. It's like saying, "Hey, this spot's taken." If you're unfamiliar with this chope culture, it's like an unspoken rule here. It is an act commonly done by Singaporeans where they use tissue packets, other belongings, or in this case, bags, to reserve tables and seats at public spaces or food establishments. What happens if you choose to sit at the already reserved seats? From a legal and ethical standpoint, nothing shady happened. Thus, you likely won't get into any trouble with the police. But morally speaking, it's not the nicest thing to do and may even get you on the wrong side of some people. That's what happened to a group of students. Man Called the Police Over Spat About Reserving Seats in Our Tampines Hub On the evening of 11 September, a group of five students were seamlessly going about their day at Our Tampines Hub to review their study materials at a table before a middle-aged man approached and reprimanded them. Why did he scold them? Well, because they took his allegedly choped seats. The middle-aged man, who quarrelled with the group of students after they had moved his bags from the seats, was filmed by a bystander. The confrontation, captured on video, was subsequently uploaded to the Telegram channel Sgfollowsall. In the 25-second clip, the man, wearing a black shirt, a black mask, and a hat, could be heard repeatedly scolding the students while pointing his finger at the table. The situation escalated further when, instead of accepting responsibility or attempting to diffuse the tension, the students responded with laughter after the man had finished making his point. All They Wanted to Do Was Study According to Shin Min Daily News, the students were heard explaining to the man that they occupied the seats to review their study material since he had vacated the seat for an extended period. However, the man only responded by accusing the students of holding a gathering at the table and telling them they should go to the library instead if they wanted to study. The incident occurred in a public area on the ground floor of Our Tampines Hub, which offers several tables for visitors to utilise for studying or dining. A student at the scene told the Chinese-language newspaper that the man was a frequent visitor of the area and would sometimes arrive as early as 6am, even noting that the man may sometimes bring a suitcase and a few bags with him. The student also mentioned that the man would watch videos with his laptop before disappearing for a few hours, yet adhered to the habit of leaving his personal belongings behind to reserve his seat. According to the student, on the date of the incident, the man left the area for an extended period before returning, resulting in the group of students to use his table and seats as they were unoccupied for a while. When he found out his items had been moved and the seat he reserved had been taken, he began throwing a tantrum in front of the students. The bystander recounted that some students attempted to clarify why his belongings were moved while others urged him to lower his voice. The incident also occurred during the examination week for the students, and the date of the incident fell on Teacher's Day, a school holiday; thus, students were scattered everywhere. Man Was Furious, He Called the Police The man, who was affected by the moving of his belongings, called for the mall security officer, hoping to get some resolution to the situation or, perhaps, get someone else to be on his side. However, when the security officer told him that he should bring his personal belongings if he were to leave the area for more than two hours, the man was outraged again. Upon hearing the response from the security officer, the man started to create more stories, such as accusing the students of damaging his belongings and calling the police. The students involved in the incident were frightened when police officers arrived at 6.30pm that day. Some of them also asked their parents to come down to the scene to talk to the man. According to the student bystander, the man who tried to hog his seat for a few hours had fled the scene before the police arrived, and there had been no recent sightings of him in the area. In response to Shin Min's queries, the Singapore Police Force confirmed the submission of a police report, and investigations are ongoing. Singaporeans Are Going Too Far With Reserving Seats For Westies who have yet to visit Our Tampines Hub, it is an integrated community and lifestyle building in Tampines. Many students love to go there in the evening due to the availability of seating spaces and study zones. This is not the first time such incidents have taken place. Some netizens have also complained about students hogging and chope-ing seats overnight. Yes, they choped their seats overnight by deliberately leaving their belongings behind. Some netizens have expressed their frustration with such incidents and have even vented it on social media. One netizen said that he would "not hesitate to throw your empty papers and pencil cases" if he saw them. Does simply putting our belongings on a table give us a sense of entitlement that the seat belongs to us the entire day? Ultimately, it's important to remember that we're not the only ones who need tables and chairs to study, hang out, or enjoy our food. Others need it too.