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A man took to Facebook to complain after his domestic helper paid S$3.50 for a packet of rice, bean sprouts, and a splash of curry sauce, Shin Min Daily News reported.

The food was bought from a food stall located along Bukit Timah Sixth Avenue.

Displeased that such a simple meal can come up to S$3.50, the employer of the domestic worker went to confront the food stall.

He said: "I questioned them and they said everything is expensive now."

Stall assistant's side of story

A 27-year-old stall assistant told Shin Min that he recalls the incident, which took place on Sunday, Dec. 4 at around 1pm.

He explained that the stall he works at mainly does set meals, and rarely does it serve rice with à la carte dishes.

He added: "The domestic helper said she wanted a vegetable set meal, but also said she couldn't finish it. All she needed was bean sprouts, rice, and curry sauce."

An available vegetarian set meal offered by the stall is rice served with two types of vegetables, curry sauce, and papadam for S$4.

Customer informed

The stall assistant also claimed he had told the customer beforehand that by purchasing just rice, bean sprouts, and a splash of curry sauce, it will only be 50 cents cheaper than the set meal.

He added, providing a breakdown of prices: "Both the rice and bean sprouts cost S$1.50 each, while the curry sauce is 50 cents."

"The domestic helper was told about this price and she agreed to it," he also said.

"I didn't expect her employer to question me afterwards. After I explained to him, he left and I didn’t expect him to post the matter on Facebook later.”

Responses

The complaint post on Facebook attracted a variety of responses, most of which highlighted that the S$3.50 cost was too high.

One commenter attributed the price to the stall's location in Bukit Timah, while another said rice plus three vegetable dishes from an economy rice stall elsewhere will only set one back about S$2.70.

Another commenter added that 1kg of raw bean sprouts costs S$1.50, so a portion of it served as a dish should at most cost 60 cents a serving.

All photos via Shin Min Daily News