Tan Kin Lian: “It Appears S’pore Quite Backward & Unproductive” Without Widespread Use Of Hawker Queue Pagers
He cited the long wait at one-Michelin-starred hawker stall Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle as an example.
Like the long lines outside Singapore Pools ahead of a snowballed Toto draw, queueing at this bak chor mee stall is a given, even when it increased its price last year (the cheapest option there is now $8, up from $6).
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Tan Kin Lian on widespread use of queue pagers for long lines
In a Feb 5 post on his page, where he has some 99,000 followers, former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian mentioned the stall.
Adding a photo of the queue at Hill Street Tai Hwa, he wrote: “This is a popular noodle stall near Lavender MRT. The customers have to queue for 20 minutes to place the order.”
He also commented that “many food courts in other countries use pagers. It appears that Singapore is quite backward and unproductive”.
The pager system allows food sellers to page customers to collect their food when it's ready, so diners can wait comfortably at their tables instead of hovering at the stall.
Netizens discuss queue culture
Netizens commented on his post, discussing the queueing culture in Singapore and whether pagers were necessary.
One netizen replied: “Some stalls might purposely cook slower or prefer to create longer, snaking Qs to give people the perception the stall is very popular. I don't agree we are backward here,” adding that the hawker will also incur “additional costs” for installing a pager system.
The former presidential election candidate responded: “The cost of a restaurant paging system is quite modest. A system with 24 buzzers cost $82, including delivery. This should be more than adequate.” To illustrate his point, he also attached a link to an Aliexpress product listing, which showed an affordable set of restaurant pagers for sale.
Another netizen opined that queueing is a necessary evil, because most Singaporeans believe “long queue means it’s good, and the food tastes good if you have to queue”, and the food “won’t taste as good if there is no queue”.
But one Facebook user won the comment section when he quipped: “I ask [the hawker] uncle why he use no pager. He said his food not worth dying over.”
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