Secondary school students cause mischief at Starbucks, employee appears to flip drink in retaliation

Secondary school students cause mischief at Starbucks, employee appears to flip drink in retaliation
PHOTO: Instagram/ netizensofs1ngapore

A video involving an exchange between students from Woodlands Ring Secondary School (WRSS) and an employee from Starbucks is going viral on Instagram

Uploaded yesterday (Feb 20) on the 'netizensofs1ngapore' account, the video titled "Starbucks employee no manners" has received more than 50,000 views and over 1,000 comments as of writing. It is not clear when the incident occurred.

According to the caption, a student instructed the employee to write "Fairprice" on his cup.

In case you're not aware, it is common practice for Starbucks to write their customers' names on the cups. They then call out these names when the order is fulfilled. It is not known why the student chose the word "Fairprice" in particular. 

A screengrab of the video with the students. Photo: Instagram/ netizensofs1ngapore

When the employee called the student up to collect his drink, he insisted that she shout the given name. Subsequently, "she got mad and toppled his drink over," the caption continued. 

Photo: Instagram/ netizensofs1ngapore

It seems like the school is aware of the incident, as the teacher-in-charge of Student Behavioural Management (SBM), Joshua Tan, gave his response in the comments section. 

"Thank you for this video, I will settle this with the boys and girls tomorrow and deal with them appropriately", read the first comment, signed off as 'WRSS SBM'.

After his investigation, the teacher confirmed in later comments that the students were being "noisy and annoying" at the Starbucks outlet.

His follow-up comment, also made through the same Instagram handle, reads: "We teach our students about Responsibility, Respect and Resilience. Our students were definitely out of line in their behaviour and they will make things right. 

"I however have spoken personally with three of the Starbucks staff at Kampong Admiralty and they assured me that the students did not use any vulgarity, and certainly not 'Fxxx me daddy' as alleged in your post." 

AsiaOne understands that in the original caption for the video, it was indicated that the boy had instructed the Starbucks employee to write the vulgar phrase instead of "Fairprice". The caption was later amended.

The video has sparked much contention amongst Instagram users, with many condeming the boy for being disrespectful. 

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Shane Chong, 22, an NSF and ex-alumni of the school that AsiaOne spoke to, expressed disappointment in his juniors' behaviour. 

"This was unimaginable under my old principal," he said. 

"The standard of discipline in my school has decreased significantly in the six years since I have left." 

A spokesperson for Starbucks Singapore said: "At Starbucks Singapore, we want our space to be a welcoming environment where everyone can enjoy their coffee with friends and family. We are aware of the incident and have since resolved it."

joeylee@asiaone.com 

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