'Is it the norm nowadays?' Diner charged 50 cents for milk in fish soup at Kopitiam food court, staff responds

Being charged extra for takeaway containers isn't new, but what about for a regular ingredient in a dish?

One bewildered customer recently highlighted they were charged 50 cents for the addition of evaporated milk to their bowl of fish soup.

The experience was shared by user Ay Zee to the Complaint Singapore Facebook group.

Wrote the netizen: "Hmm… I didn't know fish soup if wanna add milk must pay $0.50 now… is it the norm nowadays?"

Based on the receipt posted to the page, the stall is located at the Kopitiam food court in VivoCity.

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Facebook users in the group went on to share how hawkers appear to be cutting costs or imposing excessive charges these day.

"Spring onions or coriander, quite a number of stalls don't provide anymore," noted one user.

In a response to how a commenter was charged extra 20 cents for a takeaway styrofoam box, Ay Zee shared:

"Twenty cents for tabao is normal lah. But milk is part of the ingredients in fish soup."

Others lamented that hawkers seem to be shoving the extra cost onto their customers instead of sharing the burden, and worried that there would be more of such cases in the future.

"Price increases by hawkers are getting rampant with no government bodies checking on them," wrote one.

According to a video report by Shin Min Daily News, reporters who went to the food court to investigate found that the signboard at the stall did not indicate the 50 cents extra charge for milk.

However, the extra charge was stated in the menu pasted on the stall countertop. The price listed appeared to have been changed from 30 cents to the current 50 cents.

When approached, the stall assistant told Shin Min that "the boss said the price of evaporated milk has increased and instructed on the price increase".

But how much of an increase is justified?

In August last year, a customer griped about a 50 cents 'surcharge' for black carrot cake at a stall located at Teck Ghee Court Market & Food Centre at Ang Mo Kio.

The price of their white carrot cake starts from $3 for a small portion and $3.50 for a medium, while a large portion costs $6. The black carrot cake on the other hand, is correspondingly more expensive by 50 cents for the small and medium sizes, while the large costs $7 — a dollar increase.

In response, the stall's 60-year-old boss shared that the more expensive sweet black sauce used in the dish had contributed to the price increase.

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Sometimes, such costs may be unavoidable.

At the new Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre in Sembawang, customers and hawkers alike complained about the stipulation that stallholders have to use eco-friendly packaging, resulting in customers being charged up to 80 cents for a takeaway order.

Canopy Hawkers Group, which manages the hawker centre, later imposed a 30-cents cap on takeaway packaging, and said it would subsidise the extra cost incurred by stallholders for the containers.

One netizen, however, provided a solution to Ay Zee's fish soup conundrum, stating: "Looks like we have to bring some milk along when we go out next time."

candicecai@asiaone.com

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