• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
  • Volunteer
    • Internship with The Online Citizen
  • Donation
  • Subscription
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
  • zh-hans 简体中文
  • en English
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Netizens criticise Tangs for lack of respect and inclusivity after wheelchair-assisted man allegedly asked by security officer to “go away” while shopping at Tangs Plaza

by S.Ling
27/11/2020
in Comments, Community
Reading Time: 5min read
19

41-year-old local writer Wesley Wee recently took to his Facebook page to recount his unpleasant encounter at Tangs Plaza where he was allegedly followed by a security officer who asked him to “go away” when he was on a shopping trip.

Mr Wee, who is wheelchair-bound due to his cerebral palsy, described that he went to Tangs Plaza last week to look for something to buy. However, the salesperson was allegedly “unlikely to help him”.

Instead, the salesperson called the security guard for Mr Wee.

“The guard came and he asked me to go away, he said to me do not disturb.

“The reason why I went there is to look for something to buy but as I keep moving and looking for something to buy, the guard keep (sic) following me,” he wrote on his post.

According to Mr Wee, the security guard was allegedly telling him not to ask for money here.

“It was very offensive because even if he never says anything, he thinks I am a beggar that’s why he keeps following me wherever I go (inside Tangs).

“I just want to buy things and I am not a beggar,” he lamented.

Tangs Plaza: Security officer raises his voice when speaking due to crowd and that it could have been read as “rudeness”

Responding to Mr Wee’s allegations, Tangs Singapore on Wednesday (26 November) that they expressed regret over Mr Wee’s experience, adding that they had immediately initiated internal investigations and made contact with him after they were alerted to his feedback, as reported by AsiaOne.

Tangs clarified that their security officers patrol the plaza regularly for crowd control and their patrolling is done with greater frequency with the increased crowds during peak hours, especially on the weekends.

This is done in line with social distancing safety measures.

“Due to the crowd, our security officer had to raise his voice when speaking and we understand how it could have been read as rudeness,” Tangs asserted.

According to AsiaOne, due to crowd control concerns, the security officer “had only asked Mr Wee to move away from where he had been speaking with the staff”.

Claiming that the security officer did not follow Mr Wee when he entered Tangs Plaza, it said that the security officer had instead “approached a small crowd” near Mr Wee and asked them to disperse to avoid disturbing the other customers.

After the incident, Tangs said that they have spoken to the security team and also reminded all frontline employees to “ensure that they treat all customers with dignity and respect”.

Mr Wee also responded on the comment section under his post, saying that Tangs’ manager has contacted him.

He clarified that his post did not mean to create any problems, as he only wanted to share his feelings about the alleged incident.

It was previously reported by The Straits Times that Mr Wee has been selling packets of tissue in his wheelchair in Orchard Road for years.

In light of COVID-19 pandemic, he is now selling items through live-streaming platforms, trying his best to speak to his audience despite having speech difficulty.

He also spent five years using his right toe to type out every letter for his book “Finding Happiness Against The Odds”, which have been sold out nearly 10,000 copies since it published in 2017.

Netizens’ reaction

Penning their thoughts on the Facebook pages of Mothership.sg and AsiaOne, many netizens criticised Tangs, as this is not the first time Tangs has been accused of discriminating people.

“You may have the authority, but you also have to treat others with kindness and respect,” a netizen wrote.

A handful of netizens also criticised the management team of Tangs for their poor management training as they felt that their staff are not being inclusive of people from different backgrounds.

Earlier, it was reported that Tangs faced public backlash over an incident involving a part-time promoter at a pop-up booth at the department store, in which she was allegedly instructed by two managers to remove her hijab to continue working.

The incident was first made known publicly when the business owner, who identified herself as Ms Chin speaking to TODAY, posted Instagram stories regarding the 29 July incident on her business account anastasiabyraine.

Ms Chin told TODAY that when she asked the Tangs staff members for an explanation behind asking the promoter to remove her hijab, they responded that it was for ‘professionalism-sake’.

Since then, Tangs has said through the spokesperson on 18 Aug that it would “never” ask anyone to immediately remove their religious headscarf.

“As a company with a diverse, and multi-racial workforce, we are respectful of cultural and religious practices and requirements and asking anyone to remove their religious headscarf immediately is offensive, and we would never do so.”

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
19 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Recent Posts

  • PSP launches music video, “The Palm”, to inspire Singaporeans to stay strong despite challenging times
  • Malaysian Parliament will not sit until end of Emergency: Minister Takiyuddin Hassan
  • AGC drops criminal charge against lawyer M Ravi for defaming Law Minister K Shanmugam; issues conditional warning
  • Netizens question the need for sign at Compassvale Cape after WP’s Raeesah Khan highlights damage to and misspelling of the sign
  • Worldwide donors raised RM1.2 million within 29 hours to save 670g premature Malaysian baby born in S’pore
  • Six dead as Myanmar security forces fire at protesters
  • ExxonMobil to cut 300 jobs in S’pore by end of year amid “unprecedented market conditions”
  • Myanmar junta charges six journalists, including AP photographer

Trending posts

Mental health toll of pandemic ‘devastating’: WHO

Netizens slam DPM Heng Swee Keat for calling LO Pritam Singh’s independent Budget office proposal a “wasteful duplication”

London mayor earns S$284K to oversee 9m while Denise Phua earn S$660K to oversee 1m

Man fined for leaving car “unattended” as he helped son with TraceTogether scan for a few seconds

How can the torture of a human being over 10 months take place under the watch of a police officer?

Jamus Lim tells MP Saktiandi Supaat who wants to keep reserves secret: All exchange rate policy is monetary policy

Netizens highlight irony of Govt stressing importance of adaptability in a rapidly changing world after Minister Lawrence Wong warns against replicating BlackBerry’s fate of obsolescence

Three-term MP Teo Ser Luck makes at least an additional $5m as mayor before saying “bye-bye”

Load More
November 2020
MTWTFSS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 
« Oct   Dec »
  • About Us
  • Volunteer
  • Donation
  • Subscription
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

wpDiscuz
19
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply