Your Letters

Tray return: Concern over cleaners' jobs valid

Mr John Lui seems sceptical of the reason given by some as to why they do not return trays - it will put cleaners out of a job (Why it's so hard to return a tray; Feb 4).

This concern is not invalid when it comes to elderly cleaners.

If all diners return their trays, would the cleaning companies not consider cutting down on the number of cleaners they employ? Is it not likely that the first to be cut would be the older ones?

I worry about the elderly cleaners who want to work because they do not have children to support them or do not wish to burden their children.

In another article, a hawker was quoted as saying it is more expensive to have centralised dishwashing, compared with washing the dishes themselves (Drive to boost hawker centre business and productivity; Jan 30).

Hawker centres are the last bastion of affordable food for the lower-income group.

Costs should not be allowed to rise unnecessarily.

Ang Chiew Leng (Ms)

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on February 18, 2018, with the headline Tray return: Concern over cleaners' jobs valid. Subscribe