Couple ridiculed online for 'hoarding' eggs actually school canteen vendors

It’s an amusing scenario at first for those without prior knowledge of the context. Amidst a global pandemic that has seen people panic buying groceries, a couple transporting cartons upon cartons of eggs in public were photographed before and after disaster struck: trays of ‘em fell onto the pavement. 

Photos of the pair trying to salvage what remained of the smashed eggs offered a bit of schadenfreude on social media, where netizens tittered and mocked the couple’s misfortune, assuming them to be hoarders. 

The truth, however, douses a whole lotta heartbreak onto what’s widely presumed to be poetic justice for unnecessary stockpiling. According to Bernice Ong, who shared that the couple are her friend’s parents, they are actually “honest and hardworking” school canteen vendors who don’t deserve to be laughed at. 

In a Facebook post on Saturday (March 21), she explained that the reason why the couple had been transporting that many eggs was that they had to pick up their supplies from a market after dropping their egg supplier, which apparently had quality issues. 

“It’s sad that they are now being brand as hoarders and being ridiculed on social media,” she wrote. “But in actual fact, they needed the eggs for their business.”

Bernice also shared an explanation by the couple’s child, who clarified that they were not able to find a supply of eggs earlier due to actual hoarders. They managed to find one before the new school term, which starts today (March 23). 

In another Facebook post that has since been removed from the public eye, a man by the name of Daryl Gay — who claimed to be the boyfriend of the hawker couple’s daughter — mentioned that the eggs fell after the trolley they used hit a pothole. Reports were said to have been filed with the police and the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) office. 

Daryl has also corrected an inaccurate post made by meme page SMRT Feedback, which painted the man as a “cook at a local volunteer kitchen”. A commenter revealed that the two operate a cai png stall at Damai Secondary School.

ilyas@asiaone.com