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A picture of the food court at FairPrice Hub, located next to Joo Koon MRT station, gained some traction online recently after a visitor found that the halal and non-halal utensils had not been returned to their appropriate stations.

Nasir Uddin subsequently posted the image of the scene on Facebook group Complaint Singapore on May 19.

In the photo, trays carrying non-halal utensils could be seen placed on the clearly labeled halal station.

Halal utensils can be distinguished from non-halal ones by their bright green colour, the same as the colour of the "halal" sign atop the tray return station.

In the caption, Nasir urged fellow diners to return their trays to their designated places and to "respect religious matter (sic)".

Reactions

In the comments section of Nasir's post, many Facebook users shared their theories on why the mix-up took place.

One commenter speculated that foreigners, such as tourists, could have misplaced the trays on the wrong rack as they might not understand the difference between halal and non-halal utensils.

The same user posited that the practice of returning trays to designated racks might not be that common in other countries as well.

Similarly, another user also asked whether the mix-up could be a result of language barriers.

Nevertheless, one commenter suggested that the non-halal rack had simply not been cleared, forcing diners to place their non-halal utensils on the halal rack instead.

Response from FairPrice

In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from FairPrice Group said the company is aware of the post depicting the scene at Kopitiam@FairPrice Hub.

FairPrice reassured the public that when sorting out returned crockery and utensils, its staff are "trained to adhere to strict processes and separate handling of halal and non-halal items".

Halal and non-halal items are also processed and cleaned separately.

"We would like to take this opportunity to remind diners at our foodcourts to return their trays to the appropriate tray stations after completing their meals," it said.

Mothership also understands that the photo was taken during the food court's "peak period".

In response to the incident, the food court has allocated a cleaner at each tray return point who will guide customers on returning the trays to the appropriate station.

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Top images via DDG Glass & Nasir Uddin/Facebook