Diner in viral video gets warning for not clearing glass, drink can from hawker centre table: NEA
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Patrons of Singapore’s hawker centre, coffee shop and foodcourts are required by law to return their used trays and crockery.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE – National Environment Agency (NEA) enforcement officers have issued a warning to a diner at Tekka Market and Hawker Centre because he did not clear his glass and drink can when he left the table.
The clarification by the agency comes after a video was posted on TikTok last Friday of the diner confronting two NEA officers who told him to clean his table.
Patrons of Singapore’s hawker centre, coffee shop and foodcourts are required by law to return their used trays and crockery.
The video posted by user @khuranasahib_pb04 has amassed more than 320,000 views and been reposted on multiple social media platforms.
In the video, the diner can be heard asking the officers: “You’re saying to me if I dirty the table, I’m supposed to wipe the table?”
One officer replies that the diner is supposed to clean the table before he leaves.
The dispute continues as the three argue over what the definition of “cleaning” the table is, with the diner saying that it is his duty to return his tray, crockery and utensils but not wipe the table down.
The 1min 35sec video ends with the officers insisting that the diner must wipe the table if he had dirtied it while eating. The diner then thanks the officers for the clarification.
The video raised heated debates online about whether it is fair to expect hawker centre patrons to clean their tables on top of returning their trays.
One netizen asked what would happen to diners who did not have tissue paper to clean the table.
Another said: “What if the table was dirty in the first place?”
On Tuesday, NEA said in a Facebook post it was aware of the video being circulated online and encouraged diners to “keep the table clean as a gesture of courtesy to the next diner”.
“While diners are not required to wipe the tables after use, we would like to remind diners that no one should leave behind any litter on or around the tables. These include tissues, wet wipes, drink cans, shells and bones,” it said.
The Straits Times has contacted the diner for comment.
