China Tourist Gets Called “Thieves” by SG Hawker for Taking Disposable Chopsticks Without Permission

Do you usually take disposable chopsticks from a stall without permission? A tourist from China in Singapore recently took to her Xiao Hong Shu post and said that she was labelled a thief by a hawker for taking disposable chopsticks without consent.

The tourist, who was with her partner said that she purchased chicken rice from a different stall, and took a pair of disposable chopsticks from a different stall, which upset the hawker.

“I thought the disposable chopsticks were meant to be used by everyone, just like in the airport.”

The tourist said the hawker asked for the utensils back, which had been used. However, she offered to buy the chopsticks from the hawker.

“The hawker refused to sell it, so we offered to buy something from her stall. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. The hawker said she wanted to report us to the police for stealing chopsticks.”

Brown wooden chopsticks

“It’s not about the money, it’s manners”

Singaporean media, 8World reached out to the hawker to get their sides of the story. According to the hawker, Lim, it was a busy day with his wife who was running the stall together. He saw one of the tourists taking the disposable chopsticks and rushed back to his seat.

He approached the couple and asked for it back, to which the man allegedly said,

“How much is it? I can buy from you.”

Lim also clarified that the tourists have never offered to purchase any meal from their stall.

“I never said I was going to lodge a police report. I only told them that what they did was equivalent to stealing, which I could call the police if I wanted to.”

Lim also mentioned the cost needed to restock the disposable chopsticks, which is why he doesn’t allow customers who don’t patronise his stall to take the utensils away.

“We paid for the disposable chopsticks and don’t charge the customers for it. I’m thinking of putting a sign outside my stall and clarifying everything about disposable chopsticks.”

Do you agree with Lim’s explanation?

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