Felicia Tan: “I remember there was this guy who asked for 7 sets of cutlery for a $3 plate of noodles. I told him no and only gave him two sets, and he threatened to sue us. He was very well-dressed, in a suit. People like him might feel a sense of superiority to the hawkers and think ‘I’m giving you my money so you must give me my money’s worth’. But they forget that they’re only giving $3. You can’t expect restaurant-level service at a coffeeshop, at the end of the day. But they have a huge sense of entitlement, I feel, at least for some of the unpleasant customers that I’ve encountered.”
Tan, a management consultant, shares about her parents’ lives as hawkers, plus: *Her parents’ transition from hawkers to being retirees* *Her initial impressions of her parents’ vocation* *Stereotypes of hawkers* *Thoughts on Pat Law’s recount* *Unpleasant customers* *Price increases* *Ways to help hawkers* *Learning how to cook from her parents* *Value of cooking hawker dishes at home* *Her dream Hokkien mee*
22: Life as a Hawker Daughter | Felicia Tan (The Everyday Singaporean Series)