Diners chope over 20 seats at Punggol Coast Hawker Centre during lunch hour, spark debate

An image of over two dozen seats in a hawker centre being reserved with packets of water has sparked debate online over "choping" etiquette in Singapore.

The photo, posted on Reddit on May 14, featured over 20 unoccupied seats across six tables being claimed by blue water packets.

It was taken at Punggol Coast Hawker Centre at the start of the peak lunch period, between 11:30am and 11:50am, according to the original poster (OP).

But during that time, "nobody showed up", the poster said.

"The lunch crowd was starting to arrive but nobody showed up to claim these bottles."

'HDB BTO launch for table space'

The image prompted a debate on whether reserving multiple seats at public places like hawker centres, or "choping", was socially acceptable.

"This is no longer chope. This is HDB BTO launch for table space," one quipped.

The commenter added that one person reserving a single seat in this manner was "already debatable", much less doing so across multiple tables during a busy period.

"Reserving multiple tables with water packets while nobody shows up during lunch crowd is just selfish.

Hawker centre is shared space. If your group not there yet, don’t make everyone else pay for your poor timing."

Another encouraged other diners to "take action".

"Just set aside these bottles to one corner, and claim your space. What can those people do when they really turn up, right?"

Choping culture

But some appeared to defend Singapore's "choping" culture, saying such a sight was "no [different from] full house".

"Nothing wrong with choping culture. Just wait for a diner to be done la. Or go somewhere else," a commenter said.

Another added that as long as others "are not hovering around looking for seats", they saw no issue with the practice.

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