Singapore’s vibrant hawker culture recently witnessed a stir when a netizen was charged an extra S$1 for a seemingly straightforward hawker meal—fried rice and dumplings.
The cause of this unexpected dent in the pocket? A takeaway container charge of S$0.50 imposed by the stall.
Daylight Robbery or Acceptable Charge
The netizen stumbled upon this culinary twist when they decided to indulge in a hawker meal. To their dismay, a routine order of fried rice and dumplings came with an unforeseen cost—the notorious S$0.50 takeaway box charge.
Expressing reluctance to pay the additional fee, the customer highlighted the perceived absurdity of the price hikes on takeaway boxes. This sentiment resonated with many, sparking a wave of discontent among netizens.
The incident prompted an influx of reactions from netizens who echoed the sentiment of the Reddit user. Many deemed the S$0.50 charge for a takeaway box as excessive, considering the modest nature of the hawker meal.
Netizens’ Comments
- Best thing is I bring my own box, the store owner refuse to accept the box I brought, insists I pay for the takeaway box provided.
- Order dine in, when it comes pour into your container in front of them and return the plate.
- Actually, it’s weird. The shop does less work by selling them takeaway. They should only charge minimally.
- Alot of coffee shops includes the cost of cleaning dishes and cutleries into their rental rates. So the hawkers would have to pay extra for containers should you choose to takeaway. That said 50cents is way too much unless the food comes in like 5 separate containers or something.
- Common grill by Collin’s at my place charges 60cents for takeaway containers regardless whether it’s for their main course or snacks. Granted the containers for their main course is those sturdy plastic containers with multiple compartments but the containers for pasta/finger food is just paper box.