Diners in Singapore who fail to observe safe distancing measures and even repeatedly breach them by socialising across tables in big groups are putting the eateries doing their business at risk of a shutdown and hefty fines.
An appeal for commonsense and goodwill to prevail among customers, who are heading out and about to have meals and drinks during this ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, has been put up by an owner of dining establishments in Singapore.
He sounded the alarm after two recent cases in his establishments could have resulted in closure of his eateries temporarily, and even permanently.
What happened
Sid Kim, the owner of Vatos Urban Tacos at South Beach, and Vatos Cantina at Holland Village, wrote in a Aug. 15 Facebook post describing the scenarios that have played out for his staff when dealing with uncooperative customers.
Kim wrote: "I'm writing this post, because I felt the need to directly address consumers regarding a couple of safe distancing incidents at my restaurants (or lack of safe distancing I should say)."
First instance
According to the owner, on Friday night, at South Beach, two tables of five persons were next to each other and they continued to mingle and socialise despite at least three to four warnings by the staff.
He wrote: "Every time we asked them to stop, the guests would say, "Okay, okay", and then five minutes later, they would begin mingling again."
About 20 minutes later, a social distancing officer told the restaurant that if he came back and saw something like this again, the premises would be fined and shut down.
Second instance
Kim also wrote about another incident the next night.
On Saturday night, at Holland Village, a table of four and a table of three also kept mingling and socialising.
He wrote about the intervention process: "My manager told them to stop, nicely at first, but when they ignored her completely, she became more stern. Ultimately, we had to ask both tables to leave the premises. The guests refused. When my manager called me, I told her that we had no choice but to call the police, which she did."
"At that moment, a passerby took a photo of the group of seven, approached one of my staff, and told her that they were going to report us for violating safe distancing regulations."
This was the type of scenario that can get an eatery shut down for good, Kim wrote: "For customers, breaching the safe distancing regulations might not seem that important, but for restaurants, it's literally a matter of life or death."
This was so as "a massive fine and 10 days of mandatory shut down could easily be the final nail in the coffin", Kim reiterated.
Customers left before police arrive
The guests in the incident at Holland Village eventually left before the police officers arrived, Kim revealed.
But had they stayed put, "I would imagine another potential Robertson Quay scenario playing itself out, which would be unfortunate for everyone involved", Kim wrote.
If given the choice to save an establishment or placate the customer, Kim's motivations are clear at the current moment.
He wrote: "Please do not put restaurants in this type of situation. If it came down to it, I'm sure most restaurant owners would choose their and their staffs' livelihoods over a group of expats being deported."
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Top photo via Google Maps & Vatos Urban Tacos Facebook