Marcel Lee Pereira, Straits Times 10 Dec 07;
THOSE old metal tiffin containers are making a comeback - at foodcourts.
The Banquet foodcourt chain plans on offering them to customers in hope this will reduce the use of plastic takeaway containers.
The metal two or three-tiered containers were commonly used in the 1960s and 70s for takeaways, but fell out of favour when plastic containers became easily available.
But they are making a comeback, as hawkers jump on the green bandwagon and try to save money too.
Banquet, for instance, says that its 30 halal foodcourts around the island, which each see 3,000 transactions a day on average. Three in 10 are takeaway orders. This translates to about 27,000 plastic containers going out of each foodcourt every month.
But when it re-introduces the tiffin carriers by February next year, the foodcourt chain is hoping to reduce this by half.
'Plus, it also brings back an air of nostalgia, reminding us of our childhood days, and perhaps help families to bond,' said Banquets's coordinator executive for marketing, Ms Noorhayati Moehd Saide.
Customers will need to pay a deposit - the exact amount has not been fixed yet - but they can return the tiffin carriers for a full refund, she said.
Right now, its hawkers are trying to cut back on the plastic usage, and they are charging customers 20 to 30 cents for each container.
And from today, any customer who comes in with his own container for takeaways can enjoy a 5 per cent discount off food prices.
While Banquet is the first to start touting tiffin carriers, hawkers across the island, both in upmarket foodcourts and hawker centres, say they have been charging for plastic containers for some time.
They say, however, that this is merely to recoup the costs of the containers.
Hawkers pay anything from five cents for a small chilli sauce container to about 20 cents for a large soup bowl.
Most of the customers interviewed by The Straits Times said they do not mind paying for the convenience of plastic takeaways.
Polytechnic student Siti Nabilah, 19, said: 'I can't be carrying a container with me all the time. But if I was at home, and going to eat at a foodcourt, I would consider bringing one.'
To some hawkers, the bring-your- own-container concept is not new.
Take Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon Restaurant on Holland Drive, for example.
For over a decade now, customers who want to do takeaways have happily forked out $2 to $3 for proper soup containers.
Owner Ricky Lau, 60, said the containers can better withstand hot liquids.
Customers can return them for a full refund, and many have kept the containers to bring it back the next time they do takeaways of the famous fish noodles.
Hawkers and customers agree on one thing, that less is more when it comes to plastic.
As Mr Morris Tiah, 36, a chicken rice seller at Compass Point puts it, 'anything we can do to reduce disposables will be good because it helps us save money and the environment too'.
Discounts for those who do bring their own containers help, said hotel front office assistant Ibrahim Suharman, 26.
'I hope that it will encourage Singaporeans to be less lazy and make it a way of life,' he said.
