Whether you personally like it or not, none of us can deny that “chope-ing” seats, or reserving seats at hawker centres in Singapore is an incredibly common sight no matter where you go.
However, although we may be used to seeing diners reserve seats with tissue, our reaction might be drastically different if the roles were reversed and a hawker did it instead.
On Tuesday (26 April), Facebook user Summer Fung uploaded a video to the Singapore Incidents Facebook group.
In the video taken at North Bridge Road Market and Food Centre, a hawker was seen to be upset at a couple who was having their meal at the hawker centre.
The reason? They had seated themselves at a table that he had “chope-d” for himself.
While the table definitely doesn’t have his name engraved on it, there were a few boxes and a water bottle that were presumably placed by the elderly hawker, who apparently sells vegetarian food.
Upon seeing that the couple were seated at his beloved “chope-d” table, the hawker became visibly agitated and started lashing out at the couple with Hokkien vulgarities.
According to the video, he was claiming that the couple had removed some of the things that he had placed on the table.
In a mix of Hokkien and Teochew, the hawker told the couple, “I want to sit here…do you understand? I want to sit here and eat my biscuits, is that okay? I said, you can’t sit here, it’s for me to sit. I am saying that nicely to you.”
Upon hearing the hawker’s rant, a female patron at the table retorted in Chinese, “You don’t have to shout at us, we will leave once we finish our food… You should have a good heart [since] you’re selling vegetarian food.”
Should Hawkers Be Allowed to Chope Tables
In Fung’s caption, she also wrote, “Should hawkers be allowed to reserve and ‘chope’ tables for their own uses, esp due to Covid we have adverse shortages of tables for paying patrons at the hawker center?”
Apart from that, she also posed a question to viewers: “Should he also control himself and not loudly scold Hokkien expletives in public places like hawker centers? Its very bad for our children and also visitors to Singapore.”
Although it was not stated if Fung is related to the patrons in the video, it is rather clear that she posted the video in support of the couple.
The video has since garnered over 4,700 views, as well as over 210 comments debating the hawker’s behaviour.
While some netizens simply suggested that patrons should avoid supporting the hawker’s business in the future, others had differing opinions that they voiced out.
In particular, there was a netizen who mentioned that the hawker had the right to “chope” the table with his water bottle, given that diners do so all the time with tissue packets or other items.
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Although this incident has been under much scrutiny, there are actually no explicit rules that allow or ban hawkers, or even hawker centre patrons, from reserving seats.
Back in 2017, the National Environment Agency (NEA) responded in a forum letter from The Straits Times regarding this issue.
A writer wrote in to urge Singapore to end its habit of “chope-ing” seats at hawker centres and coffee shops around the island.
In response to that, NEA replied that “for hawker centres, the NEA does not have any restrictions against patrons who reserve seats”.
It also emphasised that patrons should be considerate towards other diners when visiting hawker centres.
However, it was not specified if this practice applies to hawkers as well.
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Featured Image: Facebook (Summer Fung)
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