Hawkers & Tourists Argued Over Disposable Cutlery in Maxwell Food Centre

For one particular tourist from China, a trip to enjoy Singaporean cuisine at Maxwell Food Centre would end in a heated argument with one of its hawkers and her leaving with a bad taste in her mouth.

The cause of the argument?

Two pairs of disposable chopsticks.

The tourist, who went under the alias Miss Ye (Hanyu Pinyin), made a post on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu on 27 December 2023 to complain about an argument she experienced at Maxwell Food Centre. 

On Christmas Day, Miss Ye and her boyfriend decided to buy some chicken rice for lunch. Since they had forgotten to take utensils for their chicken rice, they decided to grab some disposable cutlery from a nearby stall that sold Hong Kong-style steamed fish.

However, doing so resulted in the owner of the steamed fish stall angrily berating them for stealing his chopsticks. While the two tourists attempted to settle things peacefully by paying for their disposable chopsticks, the hawker continued to angrily demand for the (already used) chopsticks to be returned to him. 

Miss Ye claimed that she tried to reach a compromise by offering to buy something from the owner’s stall. However, this attempt only resulted in the hawker threatening to call the police for stealing his chopsticks. 

Miss Ye ended her post with a comment, “I don’t know much about Singapore’s laws, so is it illegal to take disposable chopsticks from the store?”

Maxwell Food Centre Hawker Shares His Side of The Story

In an interview with 8world News, the hawker of the steamed fish stall, Mr Lin (Hanyu Pinyin) explained his side of the story. 

On the day the incident occurred, Mr Lin recounted that he and his wife were busy preparing dishes at the stall when they saw a man in his 20s hurriedly coming over to take some disposable chopsticks before hastily leaving. 

The hawker was enraged that Miss Ye and her boyfriend took the disposable cutlery without asking for his permission, likening it to a form of theft. 

In response to Miss Ye’s offer to buy the chopsticks from him, he responded, “This is not a matter of money. It is very rude to take other people’s things without asking.” 

Mr Lin also claimed that Miss Ye did not offer to buy anything from the stall, unlike what she detailed in her Xiaohongshu post. 

After the feud between Miss Ye and Mr Lin gained significant traction online, it seems that more and more hawkers have stepped up to share their own troubles regarding disposable cutlery. 

Food Stall Vendors Have Faced Problems Regarding Disposable Cutlery, Which They Have To Pay Out of Pocket To Serve Customers

According to 8world News, the vendors in Maxwell Hawker Centre have to purchase disposable chopsticks at their own expense, with each vendor being responsible for the cutlery and tableware at their respective stalls. 

The problem of customers taking advantage of the free disposable cutlery available has become a regular annoyance that stall owners have to pick up after. Even free sauces, disposable straws and dine-in cutlery (utensils that are meant to be washed and reused) can mysteriously disappear in large quantities after the hustle and bustle of the lunch crowd. 

Ms Huang, a female employee of Fook Lai Seng Teochew Fish Ball Noodles, said that disposable chopsticks are usually placed outside the stall. They encounter diners hastily taking copious numbers of disposable cutlery but staff are often too busy to stop them. By closing time, more than half of the disposable chopsticks would have vanished for no apparent reason.

Mr Lin said: “When diners take my cutlery despite patronising other hawker stalls, I still have to bear the cost of all the cutlery that is used. Moreover, some diners take away a large number of disposable chopsticks at once.”

However, Mr Lin believes that considering the choice to ban other diners from using his chopsticks has put him in a dilemma. Although it may be a justifiable way to reduce costs, he also acknowledged that it is also important to consider the overall image of Singaporean hawkers. 

In order to prevent this kind of incident from happening again, Mr Lin’s wife is considering posting a note to remind diners not to take the utensils indiscriminately.