Earlier this week, it was reported that a pair of diners failed to pay the S$245 bill they racked up after dining at a restaurant along Outram Road.
One of the employees at the restaurant reportedly had the bill deducted from his salary due to the oversight.
Madam Ho Ching, wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has chimed in on the matter, saying the alleged freeloaders ought to be caned.
She also shared her thoughts on whether it was fair and logical for the employee to incur the expense, or if the employer should help to foot the bill in such situations.
On Monday (4 Sep) afternoon, Madam Ho penned a Facebook post titled, “There are cheats and there are cheats”, in response to the dine-and-dash incident at the Outram restaurant.
Source: Ho Ching on Facebook
In Madam Ho’s view, cheats who prey on vulnerable members of our society are the “lowliest of the low life”.
She also suggested that such individuals should be caned for “preying on the weak and vulnerable”.
Madam Ho also took the opportunity to share her thoughts on opinions brought up by some members of the public.
Responding to netizens’ opinions that it was heartless of the employer to make the staff pay, she pointed out that this was shifting the blame from cheaters to employers.
She called such an arrangement a “perverse system”.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
“Just think — what if employers are required to absorb such losses? More cheats will turn up,” she warned.
Dishonest employees may even fake incidents or work in cahoots with cheats to scam their employers.
Dishonest employees will also report fake incidents of cheating customers to disguise their own stealing of ingredients.
However, Madam Ho said employers should consider giving their staff the benefit of the doubt if it’s the first time a staff member has been involved in such incidents., or if such incidents happen rarely.
Whatever the case, she stressed that such practices should fall under the employer’s prerogative and should not be a requirement.
Madam Ho also responded to netizens who pointed out that the diners who dashed off might have forgotten to pay or walked off absentmindedly.
She disagreed, pointing out that most people who have forgotten to pay would return soon after to foot the bill.
Rarely would someone be totally forgetful that they don’t come back at all to pay.
In such a scenario, looking at the accused’s track record is still important.
For those who have forgotten to pay for the first time, Madam Ho said that the authorities could consider exercising discretion if restitution or repayment is made with apologies.
On the other hand, if a request for leniency came from those with a long track record of such acts, Madam Ho said it’d be “stupid” for anyone to take their plea at face value.
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Featured image adapted from Temasek and Shin Min Daily News.
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