Food variety and affordable prices are some of the perks of eating out in Singapore.

But is it enough to accommodate to everyone's dietary restrictions whenever one heads out for a meal with friends?

On Wednesday (Sept 20), Amsyar, who goes by _amsyres on TikTok, scoured around Nanyang Technological University to have a chat with some young adults about food in Singapore. 

It seemed like he was keen on understanding the topic of prices and variety of food, through a Muslim-specific lens.

@_amsyares coc ep.5 on food #food #singapore #islam #chewsday ♬ original sound - amsyareroos

During her conversation with Amsyar, Mashitah, who is Muslim, recalled living in the UK and how it was hard for her to find halal food overseas.

According to her, restaurants and food joints in the UK sometimes do offer halal options.

But this can be sold alongside haram, translated to unlawful or forbidden, items such as pork and alcohol. 

Such an incident would not have happened in Singapore, due to Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) strict halal certification.

As Mashitah felt uncomfortable in such a setting, she would choose not to eat at such places in the UK.

This led to a lack of food variety and sometimes, her friends find creative ways to navigate their dietary restriction.

"When I was abroad, a lot of the times, my Muslim friends would just go vegan because there isn't that much options," she said.

Besides the variety, Mashitah also realised how cheap food in Singapore can be after her overseas experience.

She shared about high food prices in the UK by disclosing that it cost a steep $20 for fried chicken and spaghetti at Jollibee. 

Eating out with friends

Amsyar's follow-up question was more focused on how groups of friends in Singapore interact and decide on where to eat.

Taking into account each other's dietary restriction would be a factor. Regardless of race, language and religion right?

Mashitah appreciated that her non-Muslim friends would make the effort to check if a food place is halal-certified.

"And if it's not, they change," she added matter-of-factly.

A separate interviewee, Ruel, was asked the exact same question and his take, as a non-Muslim, was almost identical to that of Mashitah.

He told Amsyar that he has a close friend who's Muslim and eating at halal places together is just the norm.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't feel like we're accommodating. It's just what we do," he shared.

However, Ruel admitted that it's "probably not" common for people to act in such a manner, especially when there are self-centred individuals involved.

But from his perspective, if you're a really good personal friend, then nobody complains since the choice of food wouldn't matter.

ALSO READ: Is dating haram? Young adults in Singapore give their views on romance and intimacy

amierul@asiaone.com

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