Under pressure: Argument breaks out between GrabFood rider and Burger King staff

Hackles are raised and tensions have soared among essential workers in Singapore as they struggle to meet the surge in delivery orders during the circuit breaker.

A pair of them, however, reached their tipping points, leading to a quarrel in a fast-food outlet. 

The public altercation between a GrabFood rider and a staff at a Burger King outlet in Ang Mo Kio was captured on video and posted onto Facebook on Wednesday (April 23).

The clip, filmed by the rider, began in the middle of their argument, showing the agitated staff member trying to push aside a crowd of people to shove at his phone.

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Despite several people's attempts to break up the fight, the pair continued challenging and taunting each other.

The deliveryman could be heard yelling: "Everything is video now leh, everywhere is camera! [sic]", only prompting the Burger King staff to yank down his mask in defiance, responding that he wasn't afraid of going viral online.

At one point, the staff managed to hit the rider which allegedly "caused [his] old wound to crack open again."

After the fast-food restaurant staff was pulled behind the counter, his colleague, as well as another deliveryman, could be heard apologising and trying to get the rider to relax.

According to the GrabFood rider, he was only trying to take a photo of the counter when the staff flew into a rage, thinking he had purposely snapped a photo of him instead.

He said that he noticed that the ordering system was down, and merely wanted to send feedback to Grab's Online Help Center to ask why they hadn't stopped orders from coming in.

"I'm not pinpointing him eh. But you see his attitude, he want to fight me. [sic]" the rider explained in the video.

Netizens, however, pointed out that the deliveryman's attitude, too, left much to be desired.

The police told AsiaOne they were alerted to a case of voluntarily causing hurt on April 22. Both parties involved have been advised on their legal recourse. 

They added: "A 24-year-old man was issued with a composition fine of $300 for flouting the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020.”

Speaking with AsiaOne, Irene Tay, Burger King's marketing director, explained that there had been a surge in orders via the delivery platform, resulting in the long waiting time. While they understand that the rider had been under pressure, they "will not condone nor tolerate any abuse to [their] staff." 

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"We have a Dignity at Work and Zero Tolerance policy. This means that aggressive or violent behaviour towards our staff or any member of the public within our premises will not be tolerated under any circumstances."

The company has since counselled their staff and are working with their delivery partners to prevent such incidents from happening again. 

AsiaOne has also reached out to Grab for comments.

This incident comes right after another argument broke out at a bubble tea shop in Waterway Point between a 38-year-old GrabFood deliveryman and a Playmade staff on Tuesday night (April 21). The deliveryman was subsequently arrested for public nuisance.

rainercheung@asiaone.com