Hawker food is well-loved in Singapore and Malaysia, so much so that the two countries were previously at odds trying to stake claims over it.
So when an anonymous netizen shared that their new female colleague preferred cafés to hawker centres and questioned if hawker food was even for humans to consume, netizens got riled up.
In the comments section, many critiqued her “princess syndrome” and stood up for hawker food.
The anonymous netizen took to Malaysian media company MamaClub’s Facebook page to air their grievances about their new colleague. The post, written in Chinese, said the new female colleague was rather pretty.
On her first day, the team asked her along for lunch. Typically, they would patronise a hawker centre and dine together.
This was ideal because there are many food choices and the prices are cheaper.
However, the colleague said that she wanted to eat at a café. Thinking that it was her first day, they decided to accommodate her.
“The food was not bad, but the price was so ridiculously expensive,” said the netizen.
For the next few lunches, the colleague allegedly requested café food. She claimed she could not get used to eating hawker food.
Because she was still new, they acceded to her requests for her entire first week.
Come the following week, the colleague continued her “pattern”, said the netizen. Unbeknownst to her, the rest of them had earlier agreed to have their lunch at the hawker centre.
The new colleague could not convince them otherwise and reluctantly followed along.
“From the moment she sat down at the hawker centre, she kept saying ‘eww’,” recounted the netizen.
She apparently complained about the kopitiam’s interior, the tables and chairs, the hygiene, and the staff.
Wanting to show her the appeal of hawker centres, the netizen recommended the colleague their favourite tom yam noodle stall.
After hesitating to try it, she allegedly exclaimed, “Eww… Is this even meant for humans to eat?” The netizen elaborated that the woman said “eww” with every bite she took and even looked as if she was gagging.
“She is pretty but she has such strong ‘princess syndrome’,” said the netizen.
The group then decided that they would avoid having lunch with her after the incident.
Concluding the post, the netizen wrote, “Let’s leave this normal civilian food for ourselves, let her continue to eat that expensive café food!”
The post later went viral on Facebook with over 450 shares at the time of writing. Following this, an intense discussion soon took place in the comments section.
Commenters criticised the colleague, saying that she not only had ‘princess disease’, but also ‘princess cancer’.
But others reasoned that food preferences depend on one’s upbringing, especially if one has just entered the working world.
Many also stood up for hawker food.
One netizen said that these delicacies are the true essence of Malaysian food.
While it’s unfortunate that the group of colleagues were unable to include their new co-worker for lunch, their rationale is perhaps understandable.
However, we hope that they’ll be able to find a middle ground to allow everyone to dine together and maintain harmony among fellow employees.
Do you agree with the woman’s colleagues’ decision to avoid having lunch with her? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image by MS News and adapted from Clifford on Unsplash.
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