Singaporeans unwilling to share tables during meals
SoShiok | Tue Apr 16 2013
A local restaurant hopes to change that by encouraging customers to sit with other people they don't know.
Singapore, April 16, 2013
The Hong Kong culture of sharing tables with strangers - or what is colloquially known there as 'daap toi' - will be familiar to those who have travelled there before.
With high rental costs, eateries in Hong Kong usually have a small capacity, so customers share tables to save time spent queueing, reported My Paper.
However, there isn't a similar culture in Singapore. Regardless of eating locations, customers will usually choose to wait for an empty table even if there are available seats.
Recently, a restaurant at Changi City Point set up a table arrangement to encourage customers to sit together with other people they don't know and chat with each other.
One of the restaurant's owners, Huang Wen Jing, 37, told My Paper that she was attracted by the 'daap toi' culture when she visited Hong Kong. So when she opened Table Manners, she hoped to share the spirit of 'daap toi' here.
Table Manners has two long tables which can seat 30 people. For those who prefer sit in tables of twos or fours, there are only about 10 such tables in total.
When My Paper visited Table Manners on Monday, they observed that given a choice, most preferred to sit by themselves at the individual tables.
Out of 50 customers interviewed, only one said he did not want to share a table with a stranger.
His main reasons were that he preferred to have his personal space while dining, and he was concerned that the other person may mind him sitting at the table.
My Paper also noticed that those who sat at the main tables preferred to leave a couple of seats in between them and another person.
However, Table Manners' manager said that customers mainly come for the food so during peak periods customers would not leave just because they have to share a table.
