On Jan. 20, a Facebook post of a drinks stall auntie in Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (SCGS) went viral.
The person who uploaded the post claimed that her grand-aunt, who had been selling drinks in the school canteen since the 1950s, was forced to sell either plain water at room temperature or hot beverages as instructed by the school’s management.
The Facebook post, however, appears to be taken down.
Statement from SCGS
Responding to queries from Mothership, SCGS's principal, Eugenia Lim, said that the drinks stall auntie, Mdm Lim, is "part of the SCGS family" and is loved by both staff and students of the school.
She added that the school was told Lim would not continue her job in 2020 as her family was concerned about her old age.
Eugenia Lim said that the school respects her decision.
Responding to the vending machine kerfuffle, Tan explained:
"Running up to Mdm Lim’s decision to leave the school, SCGS was trying to provide healthier food and beverage choices to our students and staff and was in the process of combining one stall to provide fruit juice, hot drinks, fruits and healthy snacks, instead of the school having two separate fruit and drinks stalls.
Understanding that some students may need time to make the switch from sweetened drinks to water, we brought in a vending machine, which dispenses drinks bearing the Health Promotion Board’s ‘healthier choice’ symbol, as a transition measure.
We have also been encouraging our students to make water their drink of choice, and hope to gradually reduce the frequency of replenishing the machine.
In October, Mdm Lim signed a contract to run a combined fruit and drink stall, together with the previous fruit stall vendor. At no point was she ever asked by the school to leave."
Parents received a letter
Mothership understands that parents of SCGS' students received a letter regarding the viral Facebook post.
The letter was issued to inform parents of what was happening and to also clear things up.
Here is a short excerpt from the letter:
"We did not have a chance to say goodbye and thank Auntie Lim for her many years of contributions to our SCGS family.
We had contacted the family to invite her to join us for Chinese New Year celebrations, but she is not available that day.
We will continue to reach out to her and make other arrangements to show our gratitude to auntie for her dedication to generations of SCGS girls who still fondly remember her."
Top photos via Wikipedia & Pearl Chang/FB.
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