Mum Told Her Son in Front of Foodpanda Rider That They’re ‘People Who Just Got out of Jail’

“Get out of Jail” or “Go to Jail Immediately” reminds me mostly of good ol’ Monopoly fun.

For a Foodpanda rider, the ‘jail card’ resulted in a highly-discriminatory encounter at the hands of a flagrantly-ignorant and inaccurate mother.

On 26 December, Twitter user @ahmsafiyybr took to the social media platform to share his unfortunate encounter at Causeway Point.

A thread about some lift story at CWP the other day.

Kid-"Mummy when i grow up i want work like him can?" *points at me in my FP shirt*

Mom-"No you cannot work like this. this job is for all those ppl who never study hard and ppl who just got out of jail"

excuse me? hahaha

— Asam0 (@ahmsafiyybr) December 26, 2018

In it, an innocently-inquisitive child asks his/her mother if he/she could consider being a Foodpanda rider as a future employment option.

His/her mum’s reply was “No you cannot work like this. this job is for all those ppl who never study hard and ppl who just got out of jail.”

At this point I hear a bubbling sound.

Noting that there was no kettle in my vicinity, I realized it was my blood boiling.

A best friend to a grumbling tummy on lazy legs

I don’t know about you.

But ever since the food delivery concept was taken to a whole new -a-touch-screen concept-away- level with the introduction of Foodpanda in Singapore circa 2012, I’ve been getting fat.

Not complaining though, because as the Chinese say “能吃是福,” which translates into “can eat is prosperity.”

Very apt for the upcoming CNY.

The advent of these app-enabled riders brought to busy/lazy/stressed and many other adjectivally-imbued Singaporeans, a whole new level of armchair comfort and convenience never thought possible by our parents’ generation before.

As Ms Lim Xiang Jun, 32,  a project producer, in a Today Online article puts: “It is a godsend.”

A job with it perks and its woes

Like every job which has its own pros and cons, Mr Edgar Soon was happy to share them all in this article with Today Online.

Mr Edgar Soon

After losing his job as a laboratory technician which paid him slightly less than $2,000, he now earns about “S$3,000 to S$4,000 a month, about double what he used to earn” while covering areas such as “Pasir Ris, Simei, Changi Business Park, Bedok, and Tampines where he lives” according the the article.

That sounds like a decent pay raise in any industry with the added bonus of hustling and bustling near your home right.

I stay in Bishan but work in Bukit Batok leh, sianzz. Can shift office, boss?

Show me the mannneeehhhhh

But there are its downs as well.

Muhammad Syawal, 18, who uses his e-scooter to deliver food told Today in the same article: “The weather can be the worst enemy for me, with the rain making delivery a lot more difficult than usual.”

This though is worse than rain, like a clueless mother spitting unnecessary insults

More elucidating Tweets

Aside from the original tweet, ahmsafiyybr followed up with more, presumably irked, and rightly justified posts:

Quite mind-boggling, the amount of senseless things people say, if you ask me.

Not to mention the misguided notion that only higher-level education necessarily guarantees results; think Jack Ma and Steve Jobs.

Or that people who have gone to jail don’t deserve a second chance; read about The Yellow Ribbon Project if you don’t already know.

Well those are two stories for another day and luckily though, the internet is a repository of all things good and bad.

When you have grown old young one, and if you remember your mum once dissing a Foodpanda rider, please show this article to her.

On behalf of Team Goody Feed, thank you.