Tiong Bahru hawker gets called out for leaving cooked chicken overnight, reveals they are plastic models

Netizens may have thought they caught this hawker red-handed, but perhaps it was merely a trick of the light. 

Facebook user Terry Leong shared that he saw a hawker in Tiong Bahru close up his stall with chickens still hanging in the back, sharing his disgust in a post to Complaint Singapore last Wednesday (Dec 20).

"I noticed something was hanging at the back of the shop," he began. "When I walked closer, I saw cooked chicken hanging under the exhaust and they've been hanging there since afternoon."

According to Leong, he has purchased food from Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre for years and only just noticed this.

He added: "I don't recommend people eating this stall as I believe they keep their chicken till the next day and use the chicken when they open for business."

Netizens that saw the post were also similarly displeased by this, describing it as a "health risk" and urging Leong to lodge a complaint to relevant authorities.

"Okay, don't eat at that stall," another simply stated.

The plot chickens

Speaking with 8world, however, the hawker of this curry chicken noodle stall, surnamed Wang, revealed that this was all a misunderstanding - those chickens are fake and made of plastic, and they don't have any leftover chicken when they close up for the day.

She explained that these plastic chickens were placed there as decoration, and also to let customers know that their food is made from white chicken.

"I saw these beautiful chicken models when I was shopping before, so I bought a few and put them in the stall," Wang said.

The 8world reporter also inspected the models and described them as being "lifelike" and almost similar to the real thing.

The National Environment Agency had also checked her shop before and that her plastic models of chicken were unaffected by their inspection, reported the Chinese daily. 

Wang also added that it is impossible for hawkers to leave cooked chicken hanging in a stall overnight due to the weather in Singapore.

"My chickens are sold out every day and I don't even have enough to match sales," she said. "I don't sell chicken that's been left overnight, I hope customers don't misunderstand this."

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khooyihang@asiaone.com