djjaguar64

I agree why would you eat hawker center food in Business Class? Does not make sense at all.

sl00001

Each to their own - but from a marketing perspective it makes sense. Hawker food is part of Singapore's culture and as the National Carrier to have this served onboard is part of the brand. I can imagine Singaporeans overseas and coming back after a long time, stepping into the plane and enjoy the Singapore hospitality and the local food.....it is not whether it taste good or not, its about feeling back home again once you step onboard.

bpk6h

It's not just about being Singaporean either. I generally prefer those options. Heck, even Michelin has awarded stars to some hawkers. Cheap doesn't mean less/poor flavor. Anyways, there are other choices for those that would prefer less local fare.

djjaguar64

I agree everyone has their preference and offering Michelin Star to a food court item does not mean it should be served on a 5 star airline. Oh well no point carrying on with this. To me SQ is not a 5 star airline, it just pretends it is. I flew with them as full fare paying passengers this April and I was not impressed. Forgetting meals and not onboarding wines listed on their menus. Have to ask for a toiletries kit on a 13 hour flight, and the crew had the gall to ask me if I needed to brush my teeth. Thats a 5 star airline.

RayG

Same here. I tend to prefer the hawker center dishes, myself. If it is expensive ingredients, I much prefer to enjoy them on the ground. SQ is not alone in this -- the ME3 offer mezze (and in some instances in quite an elaborate fashion) in their premium cabins, which less face it, does not require the most expensive ingredients. However, it is generally delicious and works well in the air.

WISEMEN

Yes, it’s a matter of personal preference. I don’t doubt that hawker centre classics are popular among some passengers, especially Singaporeans, and I’m happy for them to be on the menu.

My issue is that the menu is now dominated by them at the moment. That goes for BTC too. Most hawker classics are very carb heavy, which is not something I’m a fan of when I’m sedentary for a long period of time inflight. In my view, the balance is not right and there’s a very limited choice of quality proteins. My assumption is that it’s a cost saving mechanism.

And I say that as someone who is frequently found eating in hawker centres when on the ground. To me, there’s a time and a place for everything.

demue

I'd second that. Nothing wrong with the hawker favorites, but IIRC on my last SQ326 to FRA there was a fair amount of traditional local fare if I may call it that. There is nothing light about that and there was no fish dish or anything on offer ( a chicken dish was the leanest I guess), forget about decent tasting vegetarian options. All this in Biz.

Luckily I had BTC'ed the two lonely fish options with barramundi which were okay, not earth shattering, but decent enough. Currently BTC is a tad sad in fish and veg and healthier options and that despite SIA touting big time a move into that direction. YMMV

djjaguar64

I love fish but I ordered the steak and lobster for 2 of my meals. The fish is not fresh ocean fish its farm fish which I don't prefer.

demue

True, it is actually specifically advertised as farmed, guess to emphasize the sustainability angle (which we know is debatable as well). YMMV.

SMK77

There are some attempts by some people but in general SIA's middle management has mostly not woken up from Covid hibernation and uses every - and I repeat every - excuse possible why things cannot be done or cannot be implemented. No one cares about passengers or solutions anymore and there are too many people with no sufficient knowledge, passion and vision. It's the saddest version of SIA I have seen in 15 years.

One week you fly in First Class and you get you pre-departure drink and the other week you sit in Business Class and get lectured that you can ask for water if you really need a drink. Flew MH the other day from KUL to SIN and despite them using long-haul aircraft with 19 seats, they managed welcome drinks on the ground for a flight of 30 minutes.

I feel sorry for the many, many SIA flight crew that are still fully motivated and providing the most wonderful service while getting back-stabbed by their own management. SIA is still all about cost-cutting and that's inappropriate where most of your tickets are sold in the highest booking classes only.

Singapore_Air

Would like to have a broad discussion over drinks on this and compare notes !

But specifically on pre-departure drinks, I will be more transparent in this post and say that my understanding is that it is a union problem and not a SIA management / front-line cabin crew problem.

AnttiV

Seriously, you need to ask (ring the bell?) to get PDBs and the only option is water when they charge +3k€ for Asia-EU r/t?! Surely you are kidding, right?

Beepbop

Interesting that pre-departure drinks are a union problem. I guess there has been staffing issues with the increase in travel demand.

It's sad reading about all the issues with SQ lounges, service and customer service in all these threads. I stopped flying SQ regularly a while back, because I didn't think the quality justified the "SQ premium". I still have to fly SQ occasionally, and the ability to contrast it with other airlines (and with past SQ service) makes me all the more happy that I got out of the SQ bubble.

itadakimasu

I couldn't agree more - remember also that as part of the 'restructuring' / cost-cutting, some managers were offered financial rewards / incentives which were directly proportional to the amount of costs they saved for the company. I can, therefore understand that there will be some opposition to resuming the full service standards which SQ became renowned for. As an example, on a flight in F out from a European station back to SG - my seat (1A - 77W) still had remnants of food crumbs, and even the boarding pass of the previous passenger when I boarded. I mentioned this to the IFM, who shared my frustration - he said that since the onset of the pandemic, SQ now have a different (and significantly cheaper) contractor for cleaning and these sorts of issues were now rife.

Sad to say, the SQ of today is a shadow of its former self and I too have witnessed the gradual erosion of its service standards over the last 22 years - it's probably going to require a change from the top down to redirect its focus, both on the ground and in the air, but that is, regrettably, the exact thing that Singapore as a whole tends to resist.

carrotjuice

I too had crumbs and sticky residue at my J seat from CPH recently. Now we know why...