Table manners in Singapore

Nearly all diners at these places — be they students or adults — are still walking off nonchalantly after finishing their meals, leaving the cleaners to pick up after them.

This comes from The Straits Times' observation of a dozen fast—food outlets from Toa Payoh to Bugis Junction and Bishan in the past week, since the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) launched its campaign to encourage fast—food patrons to leave tables tidy for other users.

It does seem that the message behind the drive, “Clear Up Before You Go — Because You Are Kind That Way,” has not sunk in yet.

Six restaurants supporting the drive all say it is still too early to tell whether it will be successful. They are McDonald's, KFC, Subway, Long John Silver's, MOS Burger and Superdog, which have 314 outlets among themselves island—wide.

SKM's campaign comes after “Goodness Gracious Me,” a similar drive launched by The Straits Times in 2008 to persuade people to clear their trays after eating their meals in the Kopitiam chain of food courts, at the Zion Road Hawker Centre and the Institute of Mental Health canteen.

Edmund Koh, the boss at hotdog chain Superdog, reckons only one in 10 diners now clear their own trays, and these are mostly foreigners, for whom it is an ingrained habit.

The diners had a ready excuse, despite some restaurants having placed reminders in the form of SKM's stickers and tent cards in their premises.

One among a group of lower—secondary school students, who gave her name only as Fiona, said, “I usually clear my tray, but as we were busy talking and someone said 'let's go', we just left.”

Another student, Leon Tay, 15, said leaving his tray uncleared was a habit as he knew others would clear it.

But school principals contacted said students returned their trays as a matter of course while in school. At Tampines Primary School, pupils are taught from day one to do so; at Cedar Girls' Secondary, the practice is spelled out in the school's code of conduct.

If schools can get students to clear their trays, why do they not do so elsewhere?

Sociologist Paulin Straughan, offers some reasons. Fast—food outlets do not have authority figures like in school, “so once they step out of there and there's no one policing them, it's freedom,” she said. She added that service staff who tell diners to leave their trays on the tables send out mixed signals. A third reason, she said, was peer pressure. Students tend to skip doing it if their friends do not do it.

Chandler Jay Siva, the principal of Clementi Primary School, believes students are easier to convince if the adults around them ─ their parents and caregivers ─ lead by example.

But she is less hopeful of changing the habits of adults in short order. “Once Singaporeans get used to this kind of lifestyle where people clear up after them, they'll need reminders.”

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email