A hawker took to Facebook to appeal for help clearing some 150 sets of unsold nasi biryani, after a bulk order made by someone claiming to be from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) was not picked up.
Muhammad Shazain Faiha Muslim Food Paradise, a hawker stall in Tiong Bahru Market, posted a request to Facebook on Tuesday (Sept 9) for people to buy its nasi biryani.
According to the post, the stall was “scammed with a fake order of 150 packets of chicken and mutton biryani”.
The person who made the order claimed to be an “SAF representative” and told the hawker he was unable to put down a deposit for the order, as “the military is a government agency and therefore cannot provide a deposit”.
He also asked for bottles of mineral water, according to 8World.
The hawker had given the man a discount for the food and increased the amount of meat and rice in each serving, after learning that the food would be distributed to soldiers.
When nobody arrived to collect the order, the hawker realised he had been scammed, according to the Chinese news outlet.
Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Foo Cexiang, who was tagged in the hawker’s post on Tuesday, also called on residents to purchase the prepared biryani.
“Lunch time may be over but on special days, we can allow ourselves a good biryani tea break – so calling all our Tiong Bahru residents, go down and get ’em before they run out!” he said in a Facebook post on the same day.
Later that day, Foo said all 150 packets of biryani had been sold.
In a separate Facebook post on Tuesday, the hawker said 80 packs of biryani have been distributed to residents in the nearby rental flats while some people had paid for the food to be donated to workers and those in need.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday night, the Ministry of Defence said the SAF had investigated the bulk order but “found no evidence that these individuals are affiliated with the SAF”.
“We take a serious view of this, and urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police,” said the ministry.
[[nid:720563]]
bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
