How much would it cost to get an extra bowl of rice in Singapore?
50 cents? Probably.
At food courts and lower-end restaurants, probably $1.
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But what if I were to tell you that in a certain food centre, that’s the price you’d have to pay for an empty bowl.
Believe it or not, that’s what happened.
Want Empty Bowl? $1, Thank You
There are many reasons why we ask for empty bowls.
Maybe it’s because we’re sharing food and we want bowls to avoid spillage. Or maybe, we have some dices and we want to play a bit (without money, of course, that’s gambling).
But whichever the reason, stall owners are pretty happy to give them to you. Or some times, visibly unhappy, but they’ll still give them to you.
Which was why this customer was understandably shocked when the conversation went like this:
Uncle, can I have an empty bowl?
Can, $1.
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Sorry, what?!
Yeah, that went down pretty well.
This incident reportedly happened at Amoy Street Food Centre at the Lor Mee stall.
A 47-year-old Chen Yaozong told Shinmin Daily (SMDN) that when he requested for an empty bowl, the stall owner charged him $1.
My Washing Is Outsourced
The stall owner, 60-year-old Xu, explained why he had to charge for the empty bowls.
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He explained that he outsourced his washing, which is calculated by the number of dishes that were washed.
“I’m running the stall alone, it’s difficult to juggle the washing and cooking, so the washing is outsourced, but that also means a higher cost.
I don’t accept change (i.e lose coins) as it’s too troublesome, so if customers are unwilling to pay the S$1, they can choose not to take an additional bowl.”
He also clarified that when he brought his kids out for a meal, he does not request for additional bowls.
He felt that it was a “waste of resources” and “not environmentally friendly”.
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$800 Washing Charge
The president of the hawker’s association, Xiao Bingxian, said that he did not know about the $1 surcharge.
He did clarify that more than 10 stall owners in the hawker centre outsource their dishwashing. The cost comes out to about $800 per month.
He told the reporter that he will meet with the hawker in question to clarify as he felt that the charge of $1 was too expensive, given that it costs one to two cents per bowl.
When a reporter tried to ask for an empty bowl, he was similarly charged a dollar even though he didn’t see any signs on the stall front.
But at least, this means the uncle was fair to everyone, and not because he didn’t like Chen’s face.
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