Beggars or not? Retiree warns about women asking for free meals at MRT stations

Offering a meal to strangers in need is a kind gesture, but one elderly man felt like he'd been duped after having two different encounters with foreign women asking him for free meals. 

Li said that three months ago, he spent $28 on beef noodles and some side dishes for two women who claimed they were from Xi'an, China.

"They said they had no money to eat, so I took them to a stall. One of them later said she wanted to buy another serving of noodles for her sister," he told Shin Min Daily News. 

When asked why he had agreed to help the women out, Li said he felt that they looked like they weren't doing well. He also said he didn't mind paying for their meals as they didn't ask him for money.

Recently, Li encountered two other women who tried to get a free meal from him outside Bukit Gombak MRT station. 

"The women said they were tourists and were supposed to fly home the next day. They told me they didn't have any money on them and hoped that I'd buy them a meal," recounted Li, who estimated that the women were in their 30s. 

The two women also allegedly told him that they were not beggars. 

When Li wanted to bring them to a nearby stall for chicken rice, the duo saw a fast food restaurant and told him they wanted to eat there instead. 

"After I rejected them, they stopped outside a convenience store and said they wanted to buy drinks. I ended up spending about $5 buying two cans of fruit juice for them." 

Women wanted 'living expenses'

Their requests didn't end there. After getting the drinks, the women asked Li for "living expenses". 

"I felt it was inappropriate [for them to do so], and I thought they were trying to scam me so I left. They ended up approaching another uncle to ask for a free meal." 

When a Shin Min reporter visited the hawker stalls outside Bukit Gombak MRT station, a stall employee named Hannah said that over the past year, it was common to see people asking others for money in the area. 

"Sometimes, they would ask for at least $10, and if the passers-by don't agree, they would harass them. Once, someone threatened to call the police, and the person ran away," said the 48-year-old. 

Hannah told Shin Min that she informed SMRT about the situation and saw a temporary improvement, but not much has changed. 

Not the only one 

It seems like Li isn't the only one who has had run-ins with women asking him for free meals. 

Another elderly man, surnamed Hong, told Shin Min that he met several women asking him for meals at Ang Mo Kio central three times in June alone. 

He explained that he would walk past the area at about 8pm every day on the way home from work. 

The 63-year-old hawker described these women to be in their 20s, well-dressed and fluent in Mandarin. 

"They would tell me, 'I haven't had anything to eat all day and I'm starving, can I have some money to buy food?'" 

Initially, he wanted to bring the first woman to a nearby market for a meal, but she wanted to go elsewhere to eat. As he didn't want to walk any further, he simply handed her $10. 

On another occasion, the second woman who approached him demanded that he buy her a drink on top of the meal he'd already bought her.  Hong said that he walked away as she was about to ask him for more money.

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"I wanted to take a photo of her, but she was quick to stop me the moment I took out my phone," said Hong. 

When he encountered a third woman in the area, he told her: "I've already helped you, please don't ask me anymore."

Hearing his response, the woman briskly walked away, which led Hong to suspect that the three women he encountered were in cahoots with each other.

Netizen warns against foreigners asking for money

One netizen have also taken to social media to warn others about such women. 

Last Saturday (Oct 28), one Facebook user named Peter Chee said he was approached by a Chinese woman who asked him for money at Yew Tee Point. 

"I turned her down but she approached another old man... He said he gave her $2 but the woman asked for $10," Chee wrote in his post. 

Chee added that he later alerted three policemen who happened to be patrolling the area about the woman. 

"Lately there are many foreigners asking for money, just be careful." 

Responding to Shin Min's queries, the police confirmed that they received a report and are currently investigating the incident.

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claudiatan@asiaone.com