THEY are a common sight in crowded hawker centres: a pack of tissues plonked down at an empty spot which practically screams 'Find another seat!'

But a group of undergraduates is on the warpath to wipe out this informal reservation system.

Last Saturday, seven students doled out 1,000 packets of tissue paper in the Chinatown Complex food centre. They were scrawled with the words: 'This seat is not taken, it's yours!'

The students are hoping to encourage patrons to tell others that the seat is occupied, rather than have diners face the tissues.

'We chose to target this aspect of social behaviour because our surveys showed it's a bugbear for a lot of people. Many gripe about the issue but no one takes an active stand,' said team member, 21-year- old V.Kumar.

The Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), which aims to encourage Singaporeans to be more gracious through simple acts of kindness, has thrown its weight behind the group, named the Tissue Parody.