You would’ve known about Robertson Quay 2.0, whereby a group of people crowded outside a restaurant like it’s Phase 9.
The viral image led to Singapore discipline master Masagos Zulkifli and the face of COVID-19 battle Minister Lawrence Wong to comment about it, and an eventual ban of dine-in in a restaurant, British Indian Curry Hut, by URA soon after.
Needless to say, the Internet is indeed the new court, even during Phase Two.
But according to TOYAYonline, it turns out that there might be more to it.
2 Fights Had Occurred Before Holland V Crowd; Restaurant Appealing URA’s Decision to Ban Dine-in
A day after the dine-in ban, the area looks like it’s travelled back to the Circuit Breaker period:
TODAYonline managed to speak to the restaurant in question, and it seems like while a picture might paint a thousand words, it couldn’t provide a story.
According to the manager of the restaurant, not one but two fights had occurred prior to the crowd.
A video has just been posted online, showing youths with their masks down hugging each other passionately which led to an even bigger crowd.
The video can’t be embedded so you can watch it here, but it’s just 2.5 minutes of a group of youths cat-fighting, and the only audible words you can hear is someone shouting, “Mata (police) lai liao!”
Here’s a gif that sums up the entire fight in two seconds.
So romantic.
The manager of the restaurant claimed that people had gathered and crowded in front of his restaurant after the fight which purportedly took place at 8pm and 9:30pm, and therefore they were not their customers.
After all, technically speaking, the outdoor area of his restaurant could only take in a maximum of 20 people, and they had only allowed people in based on reservation.
However, he admitted that some people had dragged their chairs from other tables to sit together, and they’ve informed them not to do so.
He added that since those people were not their patrons or people queuing for his restaurant, he couldn’t go and control them.
He has since sent an email to URA to explain the situation.
The restaurant has been told to close yesterday; from tomorrow onwards, it can only do takeaways (i.e. Circuit Breaker style) and if “it has shown that it is able to implement safe management measures for its customers”, it can reopen with dine-in from 29 June 2020.
Also, 5 people along the area had been fined for violating safe-distancing rules.
Domino Effect As All Outdoor Refreshment Area Along the Area Closed
While we’ve often called that place Holland Village, its official name is Lorong Mambong.
If you’re like me who’s no life beyond your room, then you might not know that the outdoor area along that road has tables and chairs for outdoor drinking (though, erm, you must say that it’s for outdoor dining though we all know it’s a place popular for drinks and not food).
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All the outdoor refreshment area would now be closed, and given that those spaces have become so much more limited with safe-distancing management, it has affected businesses there badly.
For example, Wala Wala Café Bar, a bar popular for its live band and screening of soccer matches, has 8 tables within its premises and 30 tables at the outdoor refreshment area. Do the maths and you’d know why they’re shouting, “Walau, walau!”
Other restaurants have also expressed displeasure at how one or two restaurants have affected the entire stretch of road.
However, this isn’t new: the Robertson Quay incident showed that Singapore’s taking the one-for-all, all-for-one approach: while only a few crowds were spotted in the area, all alcoholic takeaways were banned in the area.
Ministers Chimed In
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli updated a Facebook post he had posted earlier, adding a paragraph to address the Holland Village incident.
Here’s the additional paragraph he put in a day after his initial post:
I’m updating this post as a few people have shared with me Facebook and Instagram posts showing many people gathering in Holland Village. I understand there are crowds gathering in other areas as well. We will step up patrols of nightspots, and will take enforcement actions against operators and individuals who breach safe distancing measures.
I’m more impressed with the fact that he knows how to update a Facebook post that’s published instead of posting a new update. Politicians nowadays have got game, man. I didn’t even know a Facebook post can be updated.
And of course, guy-in-white-shirt and the most recognisable man in Singapore, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, chimed in on the situation.
He’s been highlighting a few million times during his COVID-19 press conferences to remind us to act responsibility, but now, he’s going the digital way with this paragraph meant for business owners who’ve learned the wrong things in NS (i.e. preparing SOPs and not implementing them):
Likewise any business operator who is unable to comply with the safe management measures will be ordered to close (even for a first offence), and will face possible penalties and charges. I call on all business operators to do the right thing. There’s no point rushing to open, only to fall short of the new safe management requirements. You will end up with further closures and disruptions for your business. Worse, you will be endangering the lives of your customers and staff.
Lesson of this entire long-ass article?
Youths caused trouble again #justsaying
Life was so much better when they were just filming and watching TikTok videos at home.
But wait; there was another fight that went viral yesterday, and they’re by boomers:
Ok, then everyone should just stay at home to watch YouTube videos. If so, you might want to check out this perfect love story (and also subscribe to our YouTube channel for more meaningful videos!):
Over in TikTok, there’s a drama involving property agents that’s caused by us. Here’s what happened:
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