TRS reader Doris is irked at the rude manner in which a hawker treated her mother. First he quoted the ridiculous price of $10 for a pack of Hokkien mee without bean sprouts, then refused to sell her any altogether.
According to Doris, her mother is unable to eat bean sprouts because she suffers from gout.
The TRS reader related the incident.
"I'm very angry with this Hokkien mee stall owner .
"This slim uncle with spectacles is so rude and unfriendly. Just because his Hokkien mee business is good doesn't mean he can be so rude to my mum, after all my mum is just a customer who really loves to eat Hokkien mee .
"My mum love to eat Hokkien mee but she has gout so she can't eat bean sprouts (and other bean products) .
"She was really craving Hokkien mee and so she went to this Toa Payoh Lorong 8 market stall to order Hokkien mee without bean sprouts, but the shop owner told my mum that he doesn't fry special orders of Hokkien mee as it is too troublesome.
"So my mum told him that since he cooks Hokkien mee in batches, she offered to buy the entire batch of mee without bean sprouts. This totalled four packets.
"However, the owner of the shop (who is also the one cooking) turned to my mum while cooking another order said 'Auntie, you want me to cook without bean sprouts har?'
"My mum replied 'yes', thinking that she still had a chance to get her order.
"The uncle replied, 'Can... One packet $10.00.'
"My mum was shocked and thought she had heard wrong and asked the uncle whether it was $4 or $10? Even the guy behind my mum had a shock too.
"One small portion of Hokkien mee for $10?
"But my mum still wanted to buy it, and the stall owner backed out again and insulted my mum, saying 'Even you want to pay me $10 I also don't want to sell you, cause I don't like to trouble myself cooking without bean sprouts.'
"This uncle is really unreasonable, can anyone tell me where can I make a complaint against this stall owner please?
"I really feel bad for my mum because, even at this age, she still has to be insulted by a rude stall owner who thinks his Hokkien mee is the best."