Elderly couple charged $7.50 despite free meal scheme by Bukit Batok stall
An elderly couple ordered from a vegetarian stall at a Bukit Batok hawker centre after hearing from their daughter about the business’ free meal scheme for seniors, but were charged $7.50 for their meal.
Madam Huang, a 50-year-old administrator, reached out to Shin Min Daily News claiming she learnt of Yuan Lai Vegetarian, a stall offering free meals to seniors on every 1st and 15th day of each Chinese lunar month, through an online group buy.
She then recommended her parents, who are in their 80s, to patronise the stall, located at Bukit Batok West Hawker Centre.
On April 17, which was the 1st day of the third lunar month, Madam Huang’s parents decided to patronise the stall. However, they were charged $3.50 and $4, leading their daughter to question whether the free meals were an advertising gimmick.
“On Saturday, I approached the stall’s boss to understand the situation. However, she said customers must inform staff beforehand to redeem the free meals, and customers can only order from a few selected dishes,” Madam Huang said.
“How would seniors know this? My father said he ate whatever the stall offered, but didn’t expect to be charged for his meal.”
Madam Huang argued that since the stall offered free meals, the scheme should be applied consistently rather than selectively charging customers.
Customers should state when ordering: boss
When Shin Min visited the stall on April 18, owner Madam Zhang stated that she had been offering free meals to seniors for three of the past four years that the stall has been in operation. She explained that the complimentary dishes were sponsored by regular customers, and that diners needed to request them when placing their orders.
“We cannot trick customers. Some dishes can be redeemed for free, just inform us. In the past, I’ve asked elderly customers one by one, but some rejected and said they can afford their meals. Furthermore, we’re busier on the 1st and 15th day of the lunar month, so it’s hard to ask every single customer,” Madam Zhang explained.
Several diners Shin Min spoke to said they were aware of the free meal scheme, but did not redeem it as they did not need it.
Madam Zhang clarified that the free meals included a main dish, vegetarian char siew, and vegetarian goose. For April, Madam Zhang had 110 free meals to give out, 40 of which were redeemed on the first day. The remaining 70 meals would be given out on the 15th.
“Seniors who redeem the meal must leave a signature so we can keep clear records. After each day of the scheme, I will also notify the donors about the number of free meals left,” said Madam Zhang.
Seeing how committed the donors are, Madam Zhang said she would continue distributing the free meals even if the monthly allocation had been used up.
The stall owner described the matter as a “miscommunication” and said she would take steps to prevent similar situations in the future.
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