Misunderstanding costs restaurant $6,000
By Elaine Yeo
THEY were up preparing food for 600 people as others slept, little realising that they were not the caterers for the event.
Madam Wahidah Abdul Rahman, the owner of Noorlin Seafood Restaurant, only discovered this when she called the Bukit Batok East Community Club (CC) to find out the address of the 11 Oct Hari Raya Puasa event at 5pm the same day.
She is now accusing the CC of causing her to lose money, but the CC's Malay Activities Executive Committee said that it never confirmed the order with her in the first place.
Madam Wahidah told The New Paper: 'If I didn't call to confirm the delivery address, I wouldn't have heard a thing.'
The 42-year-old ended up with $6,000 worth of food, which she and her staff members frantically distributed to mosques and orphanages later.
Madam Wahidah said that on 6 Sep, she had met with Mr Khamis Ismail, a committee member, and they had agreed on a quotation price for the catering service.
However, she admitted there had been no black-and-white agreement signed by both sides.
Mr Alvin Koh, the CC's senior constituency manager, told The New Paper that the CC had used Madam Wahidah's catering services on three previous occasions, but she had met with a different committee each time.
He said that the committee-in-charge would first get quotations from various caterers, decide on the caterer it wants, then send a letter of confirmation to the chosen caterer.
Mr Koh added: 'The Malay Activities Executive Committee gave the confirmation letter to a different caterer and not to Noorlin Seafood, so we were surprised that Madam Wahidah went ahead with the cooking.'
Misunderstanding
Madam Wahidah claimed that in her previous dealings with the CC, no agreement was signed each time. Mr Koh confirmed this.
She added: 'This was the fourth time I had worked with Bukit Batok East (CC). I thought our relationship was based on trust.'
Mr Koh said he and his staff members last spoke to Madam Wahidah on Monday. He added that she had said then that it was a misunderstanding and that the matter was settled.
But when we spoke to Madam Wahidah on Tuesday, she said it was not. She wants a partial compensation from the CC.
'I just want $2,356 for ingredients and labour,' she said, adding that she had filed a police report and a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal.
Mr Koh said: 'We don't have enough funds (to pay Madam Wahidah), but we're considering it.'
This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 6, 2008.
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By Elaine Yeo
THEY were up preparing food for 600 people as others slept, little realising that they were not the caterers for the event.
Madam Wahidah Abdul Rahman, the owner of Noorlin Seafood Restaurant, only discovered this when she called the Bukit Batok East Community Club (CC) to find out the address of the 11 Oct Hari Raya Puasa event at 5pm the same day.
She is now accusing the CC of causing her to lose money, but the CC's Malay Activities Executive Committee said that it never confirmed the order with her in the first place.
Madam Wahidah told The New Paper: 'If I didn't call to confirm the delivery address, I wouldn't have heard a thing.'
The 42-year-old ended up with $6,000 worth of food, which she and her staff members frantically distributed to mosques and orphanages later.
Madam Wahidah said that on 6 Sep, she had met with Mr Khamis Ismail, a committee member, and they had agreed on a quotation price for the catering service.
However, she admitted there had been no black-and-white agreement signed by both sides.
Mr Alvin Koh, the CC's senior constituency manager, told The New Paper that the CC had used Madam Wahidah's catering services on three previous occasions, but she had met with a different committee each time.
He said that the committee-in-charge would first get quotations from various caterers, decide on the caterer it wants, then send a letter of confirmation to the chosen caterer.
Mr Koh added: 'The Malay Activities Executive Committee gave the confirmation letter to a different caterer and not to Noorlin Seafood, so we were surprised that Madam Wahidah went ahead with the cooking.'
Misunderstanding
Madam Wahidah claimed that in her previous dealings with the CC, no agreement was signed each time. Mr Koh confirmed this.
She added: 'This was the fourth time I had worked with Bukit Batok East (CC). I thought our relationship was based on trust.'
Mr Koh said he and his staff members last spoke to Madam Wahidah on Monday. He added that she had said then that it was a misunderstanding and that the matter was settled.
But when we spoke to Madam Wahidah on Tuesday, she said it was not. She wants a partial compensation from the CC.
'I just want $2,356 for ingredients and labour,' she said, adding that she had filed a police report and a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal.
Mr Koh said: 'We don't have enough funds (to pay Madam Wahidah), but we're considering it.'
This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 6, 2008.
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