'Not for India': Singapore supermarket denies complimentary iftar snacks to Indian Muslim couple; apologises later

An Indian-origin Muslim couple was stopped from trying complimentary snacks provided during Ramzan at a prominent supermarket in Singapore, saying those were only for Malays.

Jahabar Shalih, 36, and his wife Farah Nadya, 35, said a male employee at the supermarket run by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) on April 9 “shooed” them away from the snack stand when they were doing their usual grocery shopping with their two young children, Channel News Asia reported on Monday.

The incident took place when the couple went for their weekly grocery shopping, Farah, who is an Indian-Malay revealed in a Facebook post. Her husband Jahabar is an Indian.

On March 23, FairPrice Group rolled out its Iftar Bites station, offering complimentary beverages with snacks or dates at 60 of its outlets to Muslim customers during the month-long Ramzan period.

The refreshments are distributed 30 minutes before and after iftar – or the meal Muslims eat to break fast after the sun has set.

"Fairprice was handing out free items for Muslim patrons who needed to break their fast. So as Jahabar stood there to read the stand-board message, one of the Fairprice staff approached Jahabar and repulsively mentioned, Not for INDIA, not for India," the Facebook post read.

"Dear Fairprice SG, this is incredibly distasteful and we can’t even express how shocked we are. My husband is Indian-Muslim and I’m Malay-Indian and we’re both Muslims. Guess what’s the best part? We were not even intending to take the free goodies but just stopped by the stand to applaud such an inclusive initiative. But I guess we spoke too soon," she concluded.

Meanwhile, a report in The Strait Times said that FairPrice has apologised for the incident.

In response to queries, a FairPrice spokesman said on Monday: “We take this matter seriously and would like to apologise for the incident.”

The spokesman said the employee, who had allegedly told the couple that the freebies were "not for India (sic)", has been counselled.

“We have since engaged the couple to address their concerns and have closed this matter amicably,” added the spokesman, The Straits Times report added.

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