‘No India, only Malay’: Singapore store sorry for denying couple Iftar Bites

An Indian-origin Muslim couple were left with a bitter taste in the mouth after an employee at a leading supermarket in Singapore allegedly said the complimentary snacks provided during Ramzan for the faithful to break their fast at Iftar was not for Indians but only Malays. The supermarket has since apologised for the incident and claimed to have “counselled” the employee.

Jahabar Shalih (36) and his wife Farah Nadya (35) were doing their usual grocery shopping at the supermarket run by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) with their two young children on April 9 when the incident reportedly happened. While Jahabar is Indian, his wife Farah is Indian-Malay.

What happened?

Jahabar told Channel News Asia on Monday (April 10) that he had decided to check out the Iftar Bites station in the supermarket after his wife told him about the initiative. FairPrice Group rolled out its Iftar Bites station on March 23, offering complimentary beverages with snacks or dates at 60 of its outlets to Muslim customers during the month of Ramzan.

As part of the initiative, Muslim customers are given refreshments, such as canned drinks, 30 minutes before and after Iftar, and the meal taken after evening prayers during Ramzan. These are placed on tables in the supermarkets, with a sign to Muslim shoppers to help themselves as they break their fast.

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“I walked over just to read what was on the board because I thought it was generally a nice gesture by NTUC, and it is. As I started reading it, this staff from NTUC approached me and he told me ‘no India’ … and I was like ‘what?’,” Jahabar said.

“He said, ‘No India, only Malay’ and I was like ‘that’s strange’,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

When Jahabar asked the male employee what he meant, the man, who was not identified, only repeated that “Indians cannot take”.

Jahabar then tried to explain that Muslims could come from the Indian community, and the staff member replied that he has received instructions from “people at the top”.

“I just walked off, pretty frustrated. I continued shopping,” he said, adding that his wife really felt that the incident should be brought up.

Social media post

Farah on Sunday recounted the “distasteful” encounter in a Facebook post, which has garnered more than 950 reactions and 1.5k shares.

The FairPrice shop said it is aware of the post on social media, adding that it has engaged with the couple “to address their concerns” and has closed the matter “amicably”.

“We take this matter seriously and would like to apologise for the incident. We have since also counselled our employee accordingly. We would like to clarify that Iftar Packs are offered free of charge to all Muslim customers during the month-long Ramzan period,” the supermarket was quoted as saying.

(With agency inputs)