I’m not sure what to make of the case I’m about to relate to you, so I’ll just tell you what happened.
A few months ago, there was a celebratory event at a club. The people invited included locals and expats. The buffet lunch was provided by an external caterer. At that lunch was an Austrian friend of ours. Let’s call him…Karl.
Karl and the other attendees didn’t eat as much of the food as the organisers anticipated so, at the end of the event, the organisers told everyone that they could take the remainder of the food home. Karl, newish to Singapore and still struck by the “exotic” food, came forward and got duly given some packages to take home.
When he got home, he immediately asked his family to partake of the meal. “His family” consisted of a Singaporean fiancée and his parents, who were visiting from Austria.
Later that night, all four people fell ill and were taken to hospital. Karl was sent home that night with some medication; his fiancée was discharged the next day; his mother was hospitalised for three days; his father stayed for five days.
The Singaporean authorities leapt into action from the moment of admission. How did his family get sick? Where was he? Where did the food come from? Emails zinged back and forth as Karl tried to contact other attendees to find out who the catering company was.
(For the record, J also suffered symptoms of very mild food poisoning from the same event.)
Karl provided all the details he gathered to the Singapore authorities…and was told one week later that no action would be taken because he and his family did not contract food poisoning from a restaurant. Since it was an external caterer, he was told, there was no legislation in place to prosecute the offending company. This lack of legislation, he was additionally informed, also applied to hawker stalls.
Karl was a bit nonplussed by this consequence and so was J. So, albeit almost half a year later, I did a bit of digging. In addition to finding out that there are more food poisoning cases in Singapore than anyone (i.e. Singapore) would like to admit, I came across the following:
By the looks of things, hawker stands can be prosecuted by Singapore authorities. The case I’ve linked to is from 2009, involving the “Rojak Geylang Serai” food stall. The food stall was subsequently closed and a 13 April update says:
Following the closure of ‘Rojak Geylang Serai’ at Geylang Serai Temporary Market on 4th April, transmission of food poisoning cases linked to the food stall had ceased. Since 9th April, there were no further notified cases to MOH [Ministry of Health]. The total number of food poisoning cases remains the same at 154, with 48 cases hospitalised.
It also appears that catering companies can also be, at the very least, investigated:
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) are investigating into a food poisoning incident involving a licensed caterer, ISS Catering Services Pte Ltd operating at Singapore Sports School, that was notified to the authorities on 4 November.
To date, a total of 106 cases have been notified to MOH. All the cases, including 11 who needed outpatient treatment, have since recovered. None of the affected cases required hospitalisation….
As a precautionary measure, the canteen operator, ISS Catering Services Pte Ltd, was required to clean up the food preparation and refreshment areas of the canteen. MOH has advised the school to be alert to new cases and to ensure high standards of hygiene among students, staff and food handlers. NEA will continue to work with the school to monitor the hygiene situation at the canteen closely.
So what’s happening here? Is it the public that’s getting snowed by the Singaporean authorities (we are doing something), or was it Karl (we can’t do anything)? Maybe the authorities weren’t interested in pursuing the case because only three people were hospitalised and, out of those three, two of them are going back to Europe soon anyway and the third is a local?
The only other viable explanation is that Karl is lying about what he was told but why would he? Up to this point, he’s enjoyed Singapore, even if he’s confused about why everyone is so obsessed over having white skin.
So what’s going on here? Who knows. If you visit Singapore, just be aware that this is a tropical country and that food hygiene is not always the best.
My personal recommendation is that you stalk Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, and only eat where he eats. You see, there was a scare at the Youth Olympic Games last year, with 21 volunteers suffering food poisoning. Fearlessly, Dr Balakrishnan stepped up to the plate by admitting that HE is the quality control process:
“I’ve made it a point every day to chat and have my meal with the volunteers. So that is my way of ensuring quality control [my emphasis --kaz], that the food for the volunteers is the same food that I eat.”
There you go. No delusions of godhood or even due process here. Who needs a rigorous food hygiene regulatory framework when you have good ole Viv?
POSTSCRIPT: If you follow the link about the Youth Olympics outbreak, you’ll notice that one of the volunteers who suffered food poisoning “wanted to be known only as Mr Tan.” This is how scared the average Singaporean is. You volunteer for an event, giving of yourself and your time. Something is mismanaged and you’re STILL too afraid to step forward and admit you were a victim. Pathetic.
