SINGAPORE - The employee who was caught on camera washing her
shoes in a sink at a Kopitiam food court in the National University
Hospital (NUH) has been sacked.
Facebook user Queenie Here had
posted the video last Sunday (June 21) night, in which she also
wrote: "Care for a dessert @NUH Kopitiam? I wanted to order dessert
after my dinner. Unfortunately I saw this scene....."
The clip, which lasts almost
two minutes, shows the woman scrubbing both her shoes with a brush
under a running tap within the cold desserts section of the food
court. She then appeared to return the brush to a container which
held other kitchen utensils.
As of 11am on Tuesday, the
clip had attracted more than 270,000 views and was shared over
14,000 times.
It also attracted over 1,000
comments, with a large number of netizens expressing their disgust
at the lack of hygiene exhibited.
"How can the staff do that?
They are preparing food for people to eat and drink," wrote user
Amy Goh.
"Unbelievable and
unacceptable!!!" wrote Cecilia Lim.
In a statement issued to The
Straits Times on Tuesday night, the National Environment Agency
(NEA) said it had investigated the incident and would be taking
enforcement action against Kopitiam.
"This episode was
aflagrant breach of hygiene that could have resulted in
contamination of food and utensils," it said.
Kopitiam, known for its chain
of food courts in Singapore, has since apologised for the incident.
In a post on Facebook on Tuesday morning, it assured customers that
the washing equipment used by the employee had been replaced and
the sink disinfected.
"The staff in question has
been terminated with immediate effect and we will be conducting a
thorough investigation into this matter," it
added.
A Kopitiam spokesman said that
the company will also be conducting a hygiene briefing for all
staff members working in the food court.
NUH wrote on its Facebook page
that it was aware of the video and had alerted Kopitiam's
management.
- ST