A man in Singapore had tried to buy Kway Chap without meat but was rejected by the Kway Chap seller. Unhappy with the rejection, the man said: “I have eaten Kway Chap all over the island, and this is the first time I have encountered such an arrogant Kway Chap seller.”
However, in the Kway Chap stall owner’s defense, he said that he wasn’t trying to be rude, he only asked the diner to buy it from other stalls, reported Zaobao.
The diner who is also a reader of Shin Min Daily News contacted the newspaper and told the reporter about his encounter. According to him, the incident took place at the Albert Food Centre on 29 April.
He shared that at about 2pm that afternoon, he went to a Kway Chap stall that he had patronized for several years to order food. And because he doesn’t eat meat, intestines, and pig skin, he asked the stall owner for four tau pok, one fish cake, one egg and two servings of Kway.
“I told the stall owner I wanted two portions, but he said he won’t sell me. Then I told him I am eating it myself, he said he won’t sell me either,” he said.
Owner refuses to sell Kwap Chap without meat
When the man asked the stall owner why he refused to sell him, the stall owner replied that he refused to sell it because he didn’t order meat.
According to the man, in the past, he only ordered tau pok, egg, fish cakes, or tau gua when he patronizes the stall and he would also pay the price for at least one set meal based on the stall owner’s requirements and was not rejected. He didn’t understand why the treatment was different this time.
“I’ve eaten Kway Chap all over the island, but this is the first time I’ve encountered such an arrogant stall owner. It’s not about the money, it’s about his attitude,” he said.
The reporter contacted the said owner of the stall who said that he did meet such a customer.
The 65-year-old stall owner said that the Liao (ingredients) ordered by the customer plus a serving of Kway cost $4, which is less than the price of a single set meal of $5, so he told the customer he is not selling him.
“Even though later he said that he was willing to pay the price of a set meal, I still think it’s wrong. If later someone goes around saying the Kway Chap without meat is expensive, I will have a hard time explaining it,” the owner added.
The stall owner also said that doing business must be mutual, and cannot force one. And he also added that he didn’t scold anyone at the time, “I simply told him that I am not selling him, he can eat something else.”
Hard to customise every customer’s Kway Chap order
While the diner agrees that stall owners have the freedom to determine their own rules when doing business, he also thinks that listing or stating requirements in advance can help to avoid such unpleasant incidents and unnecessary disputes.
In response to this, the stall owner said that it is difficult to customize each plate of Kway Chap according to the requirements of different customers.
The reporter also checked with other Kway Chap stalls regarding their sales practice. Some pointed out that they don’t set any rules that indicate that their customers must die-die buy their Kway Chap set or Kway Chap with meat. However, some stall owners did say that if customers order too few ingredients, also very hard to sell them.
Owner of the A&C Braised Duck & Kway Chap located at Block 605 Yishun Street 61 told the reporter that in addition to selling the $4.50 set meal with includes egg, braised meat, braised intestines, tau pok, and so on, some customers also asked to remove the meat.
“In this case, we will prepare them our ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ meal which includes tau gua, tau pok, egg, and fish cake, which cost $3.50,” he added.
He mentioned that neighbourhood businesses generally try their best to meet customer’s requirements, but there are also some restrictions. “If the ingredients you order are less than $2, then we can’t sell them, because it will affect the matching of ingredients in the set meal,” he continued.
