S’porean questions difference between ‘Halal’ & ‘Strictly for Halal’ tray return, netizens debate meaning

Singapore netizens debate differences between ‘Halal’ & ‘Strictly for Halal’ tray return stations

Two Halal tray return stations at a coffee shop were recently spotted by an individual who took to the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook group to share his confusion.

In the post, the uploaded photo showed two tray return stations.

While usually they would be split between halal and non-halal, this one instead featured the left tray return station labelled ‘Halal’ and the right one labelled ‘Strictly for Halal’.

“Not complaining. But just thinking what is the difference?” the OP wrote in the caption. They also censored the name of the coffee shop.

Netizens debated the reasoning in the comments.

One of them interpreted them literally, suggesting the halal station was for food without pork and lard, and the other was for halal-certified meals only.

Another netizen joked that the Halal station was for “secular halal” and the Strictly for Halal station was for “pious halal”.

A separate user made a similar jab, comparing the left tray return station to some Muslims who drink alcohol but would draw the line at pork.

Netizens suggest no difference in actuality

One commenter put forth a theory that the kopitiam management reused several tray return racks from other outlets, possibly due to more halal meals at this specific one.

They also suggested the signage was from different contractors or self-printed inconsistently, but both were intended to mean the same thing in practice.

Another user came to the same conclusion, noting that the signage colours and font were different. They speculated that the ‘Strictly for Halal’ sign was an older version that was still being used.

Other netizens also said it made no difference, as patrons allegedly would still keep placing non-halal crockery and cutlery into the halal racks anyway.

One netizen claimed the photo is likely from the Kopitiam at Hillion Mall in Bukit Panjang, adding that there was a stretch of halal stalls there to explain the two racks.

Also read: Cutlery overflow Ang Mo Kio hawker centre tray return station due to limited cleaning manpower

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Featured image adapted from COMPLAINT SINGAPORE on Facebook and Tampines Town Council on Facebook, for illustration purposes only.