A netizen on Facebook, Farah Nadya, shared how she and her husband were at the NTUC FairPrice outlet at Our Tampines Hub shopping for groceries when they chanced upon a stand giving away free “Iftar Bites” for their Muslim customers to break fast.
The Indian-Muslim couple thought it was sweet of NTUC to be giving away snacks and tried to collect the snacks but was told by one of the FairPrice staff who told him: “Not for India, not for India!”
Her husband then tried to explain that some Indians can be Muslims, and the staff then told him “I don’t know. I no education, the top people tell me to say like this. I don’t know. Just go away”
Here is what she said
So our wonderful evening out has turned sour and Jahabar and I don’t know what to make out of it…
We went to NTUC FairPrice at Our Tampines Hub for our weekly grocery shopping and we were greeted by this stand with what we thought was a sweet gesture. Fairprice was handing out free items for Muslim patrons who needed to break their fast. So as Jahabar stood there to read the stand-board message, one of the Fairprice staff approached Jahabar and repulsively mentioned, “Not for INDIA, not for India”.
Jahabar was in disbelief and exclaimed, “WHAT??”. The staff repeatedly said, “Not for India, don’t take. Go away!” So basically he tried his best to shoo us away!
As appalled as Jahabar and I were, Jahabar stood there calmly to nicely explain to him… “Uncle, next time don’t say like that. This is for all Muslims. Don’t say Indian or Malay who can take or can’t take. Not all Malays are Muslims and some Indians can be Muslims.”
And guess what this staff retorted???!!
“I don’t know. I no education, the top people tell me to say like this. I don’t know. Just go away”
WOW!!!
Dear Fairprice SG, this is incredibly distasteful and we can’t even express how shocked we are. My husband is Indian-Muslim and I’m Malay-Indian and we’re both Muslims. Guess what’s the best part? We were not even intending to take the free goodies but just stopped by the stand to applaud such an inclusive initiative. But I guess we spoke too soon.
Come on Fairprice SG… This is 2023. I’m sure we can do better!
NTUC’s response
[ANNOUNCEMENT]
FairPrice is aware of a post on social media last evening where a couple was told that our free Iftar packs were not meant for them. We take this matter seriously and would like to apologise for the incident. We have since also counselled our employee accordingly.
We would like to clarify that Iftar Packs are offered free of charge to all Muslim customers during the month-long Ramadan period. This is the 15th year we are running this community initiative where we offer our Muslim customers dates and refreshments 30 minutes before and after Iftar, the meal taken after evening prayers during Ramadan. Our Iftar Packs will continue to be available till the last day of Ramadan, April 21, 2023.
We have since engaged the couple to address their concerns and have closed this matter amicably.
We wish all our Muslim customers a meaningful and joyful Ramadan.
