Ho Ching Gives Her Take on Couple Who Allegedly Dined & Dashed in Outram Road Eatery

Ho Ching is known to be outspoken about current issues on her Facebook page.

This time, she commented on a couple who allegedly dined and dashed in an Outram Road eatery.

Her take on the situation has sparked some discourse on the topic.

Ho Ching’s Take on Alleged Dine and Dash Incident

In a Facebook post posted on 4 September, Ho Ching wrote, “There are cheats, and there are cheats.

“The ones who cheat retirees, low-wage workers, and the vulnerable are the lowliest of the low life.

“We should try to find these folks and cane them properly for preying on the weak and vulnerable.”

For context, the couple’s order amounted to a whopping $245.60.

As a result of the alleged dine and dash, an employee had to pay the bill instead.

Her monthly salary is only $1,800, mind you.

Regarding this, Ho Ching said, “Some folks say employers are heartless to make the employees pay.

“This is really shifting the blame from cheaters to employers.”

Ho Ching suggested that more cheats would be inspired to show up if employers absorbed the losses instead of employees.

She also claimed that dishonest employees would conspire with collaborators to cheat the employer of money.

She added that such employees would report fake incidents of cheating customers to disguise their own misdeeds.

That’s a pretty hot take if you ask me.

She added, “It is a perverse system to blame and charge the employers instead of going after the original cheats.

“True, if this happens rarely, or if it is the first time it has happened, perhaps the employers can give the employees the benefit of the doubt and split the difference.

“But that is the prerogative of the employer and should not be a requirement.”

Did the Couple Forget to Pay?

Regarding the possibility that the couple forgot to pay, Ho Ching acknowledged that this theory could be true.

However, she implied that the couple probably dined and dashed.

Ho Ching stated, “Forgetful people would typically be lone dinners, and less a guy trying to impress a date, and even less a family or a group of friends on an outing together.”

She added that it is only rarely that people completely forget to pay.

In times when people forget to foot the bill, they usually come back later to pay the outstanding sum.

Ho Ching wrote, “In such a case, the sustainable solution is to go after the diner who forgot or chose not to pay.

“In such cases, the police or judge could exercise discretion if restitution or repayment is made with apologies.”

She claimed, “This is no different from the police waiving charges and letting us off with only a warning if it were the first time we forgot to pay our parking charges, and we have had a clean record up to date.

“There are folks who had a long track record of not paying parking or doing illegal parking three or four dozen times.

“If such a persistent offender pleads forgetfulness, it would be stupid of anyone to take their plea at face value, right?”

The Incident

The incident occurred on 25 August at the coffee shop zi char Restaurant Lao You Ji Fishhead Steamboat and Seafood Restaurant.

The restaurant is located at 245 Outram Road.

Recounting the story to Shin Min Daily News, 38-year-old Chen Wei, an employee, said that the couple entered the premises at 4:45 am, right before it was about to close.

According to Google, the restaurant’s opening hours are from 5 pm to 4 am.

Chen said that the pair ordered the store’s signature dishes.

Namely, they ordered a three-egg spinach dish, a stewed chicken and a Hong Kong steamed turbot fish.

The fish alone cost $208.

Shin Min Daily News reported that the fish is priced at $160 per kilogram.

In addition, the couple ordered rice and two drinks.

Their total bill amounted to $245.60.

That sounds way too expensive for an early morning snack.

A chef, another staff member and Chen told Shin Min that they had to work overtime to serve the couple.

However, the couple apparently couldn’t finish their meal after nearly an hour.

Thus, they requested for the staff to pack their leftovers to dabao.

Chen left the packed leftovers on the couple’s table.

The pair then took the food and boarded a taxi.

All the while, Chen was under the impression that the meal had already been paid for.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the restaurant’s CCTV footage showed the couple chatting happily and calmly.

They looked like they were in their 40s.

As a result of their alleged misdeed, Chen had to foot the bill first.

However, she is only paid a monthly salary of $1,800.

The bill was a hefty blow to her, considering that the meal was worth 13% of her salary.

Adding that she had never encountered such customers before, she hoped the couple would return and repay the amount they owed.

However, it has been a week since the incident, and the couple has yet to reappear at the restaurant.

Thus, Chen decided to share her story with the media.

$245 is not a small sum of money.

If the couple really forgot about the expensive bill, maybe I can forget about my life problems just as easily.

Netizen Response to Ho Ching

Ho Ching’s comments on whether the employer should absorb the loss have caused netizens to be divided.

One netizen agreed with Ho Ching that such offenders deserve to be caned.

However, many netizens disagreed with the perspective that the employee should foot the bill.

One netizen said, “Worker earn[s] peanuts and pay, but the boss earn millions and not [doesn’t] pay? Wow.”

One netizen brought up a different perspective.

They wrote, “Sometimes when employees aren’t focused on their jobs (e.g. playing mobile games while at work, busy chatting with co-workers), would it be fair to have employers absorb the loss for employees’ negligence?

“It would be appropriate to review the CCTV to validate if employees are sleeping on their job.”

Ho Ching and Facebook

Ho Ching is the current director of Temasek Trust and the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Despite her position, she is extremely candid on her Facebook account.

While she is known for expressing her opinions on current issues in Singapore, she isn’t always so serious.

Sometimes, she reposts life quotes and even reposts jokes.

Besides her take on the alleged dine and dash, one of her more severe takes in recent times includes her opinion on the Kinderland saga.

On 2 September, she posted a post condemning the preschool’s principal and spoke out against the policy of teachers not being allowed to use their personal devices during teaching hours.

On 3 September, she referenced the Kinderland saga again in a post about the Singapore Nursing Board Nurse’s pledge.

Not only did she post the full pledge, but she also shaded the way the Kinderland saga was handled.

She wrote, “All professional nurses in Singapore have a pledge and an ethical code to guide their practice under Singapore Nursing Board regulations.

“All preschool staff should have a similar pledge and code of conduct.

“This should cover everyone involved in preschool services, from contract staff to principal; from operator management and board to regulator staff and board; from infant care to nursery and kindergarten, and well into the early years of primary school.”