Joo Chiat Stall Drew Flak for Offering Free Rojak to Unvaccinated Seniors

By
Rae Woo
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We’re Singaporeans. We love free stuff, especially if we’ve earned it.

Many businesses have joined the bandwagon, offering a multitude of benefits only to those fully vaccinated in a bid to encourage more people to get the vaccine so they can enjoy these perks, too.

Such perks range from food establishments offering free desserts to vaccinated individuals, special discounts at retail stores, and perhaps the biggest one of all – being able to dine-in at restaurants.

The list has gotten so long, there’s even a website that compiles all the benefits one can get if fully vaccinated.

Well, this one stall in Joo Chiat tried to offer just that, but attracted attention for all the wrong reasons with their rather… backward methods.

Joo Chiat Stall Offers Free Rojak To Unvaccinated Seniors

One particular stall in Joo Chiat has caused outrage online with their rather outrageous-looking offer, especially in a time where cases are rising rapidly.

The owner of the stall had originally hung up two promotional posters at the Chinatown hawker centre, offering up vouchers to collect a free rojak worth S$4.00.

Yet, the catch was that it was only available to unvaccinated seniors only.

An eye-opener, isn’t it?

According to Lianhe Zaobao‘s reports, some other stall owners noticed the poster only after customers started to ask them about it.

They were of the view that in this worsening situation, seniors should instead be encouraged to get their vaccinations as much as possible.

Such an offer may instead attract unvaccinated seniors to patronise the stall and eat at the centre, putting more people at risk of infection.

One stall owner commented that even if the stall owner had an anti-vaccination agenda that he wanted to push, the safety of patrons and other stall owners should still be considered.

Stall Owner Clarifies That He Was Encouraging Vaccination Instead

Well, thankfully, the stall owner wasn’t trying to push his anti-vaccination agenda, but only had good intentions – he was trying to encourage unvaccinated seniors to get their jabs by offering an incentive to them.

When your teachers said wording matters, this is what they meant.

Stall owner Mr Wong explained that when these unvaccinated seniors came to claim their free rojak, he would encourage them to get vaccinated and come back.

If they manage to complete both their vaccination doses in a month, they can then enjoy another free rojak on him.

“There are many seniors living nearby, and as compared to restricting their range of activity, why not encourage them to get vaccinated?” he said.

Mr Wong also admitted that he was unaware of the negative backlash about his notice online, for he was hoping to not only encourage vaccination, but also help to bring more business to the hawker centre.

Upon learning about the confusion the poster caused from a staff member in the hawker centre, Mr Wong took the poster down and has since redesigned a new one to display.

The new poster seems to be more clear in its messaging, with “Get Vaccinated” written in the headline and the fact that the promotion was only for unvaccinated seniors in smaller fine print at the bottom.

100 vouchers were to be given out according to Mr Wong’s plan.

Depending on the response, he would offer more to unvaccinated seniors after checking their NRICs and vaccination statuses, allowing them to pick up their free rojak after.

Nope, there’s still no such thing as a free lunch – you’d have to get vaccinated for more.

Understand the importance of vaccination here:

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Rae Woo
Email: [email protected]