S'pore mixed rice stall customer says staff called him stupid, staff says it's miscomm due to accent

A customer and a stall assistant at Funan Mall's food court are reportedly at odds over an alleged verbal altercation, with both parties offering conflicting accounts of what was said.

Customer's claims

Speaking to Lianhe Zaobao, the customer, surnamed Zhao (transliteration), claimed that an employee at Tong Luck Mixed Rice stall at Funan's food court had been rude to him.

The incident is said to have taken place on May 14.

Zhao said he first approached the stall to ask whether an additional charge applied for takeaway packaging if he only wanted to buy dishes without rice.

He then joined the queue and, when it was his turn to pay, he asked to do so by scanning a QR code.

However, the employee appeared not to understand his request in English, so Zhao switched to Mandarin.

He claimed the employee then responded: "You still want to scan? You're really stupid."

Zhao said he immediately demanded an apology, but the employee did not respond.

A second employee, believed to be in a supervisory role, subsequently stepped in and apologised on the staff member's behalf, attributing the remark to his inexperience as a new hire.

Despite this, Zhao said he felt that the employee's actions were unacceptable, stating that service staff should maintain basic courtesy regardless of the circumstances.

Staff member's claims

On the other hand, the employee involved, Sui, denied making any insulting remarks.

Speaking to Zaobao, Sui said he is originally from Northeast China and had been working at the stall for two to three months at the time of the incident. He said his accent might have caused the misunderstanding.

He explained that he was busy processing another customer's payment at the time of the incident, and when Zhao approached to inquire about the takeaway fee, he had already explained that an extra S$0.30 would be charged.

When it was Zhao's turn to pay, Sui said Zhao first attempted to explain the payment method in English three times before switching to Mandarin.

Even then, the phrasing Zhao used differed from the term commonly used in China, causing further confusion.

"After a while, I understood what he meant and showed him the QR code," Sui said.

He later clarified that he had not called the customer "stupid".

Instead, he had muttered the remark "You're really something" under his breath as an expression of frustration at the drawn-out exchange, and was not directed at Zhao as an insult.

However, Zhao was visibly agitated and did not give him a chance to explain.

Sui also noted he had already tendered his resignation before the incident and was due to leave the following month.

Initial findings suggest employee may have made inappropriate remarks: Management

According to Zaobao, Tong Luck Mixed Rice is a subsidiary of Broadway Food Centre.

In a statement, the company confirmed it has since launched an internal investigation, though initial findings suggest the employee may have made inappropriate remarks.

A company spokesperson said they are deeply sorry about the incident and acknowledged that the employee's behaviour fell short of the company's customer service standards, adding that they will be contacting Zhao directly to offer a formal apology.

The company also noted that while the employee was still undergoing training at the time, it did not excuse his conduct.

The company said it would take disciplinary action or arrange counselling and retraining depending on the investigation's outcome, and would strengthen staff training to ensure frontline employees maintain a professional and respectful attitude.