Foreign workers made to queue up for bak kwa

[Yani Puk]

Instead of toiling at the construction site, Indian national Pasopolgti Sai Babo spent much of Tuesday in a long queue waiting to buy bak kwa.

He was one of about 10 foreign workers spotted in the queue of about 150 people at popular barbecued meat seller Lim Chee Guan's New Bridge Road outlet.

The workers told The Straits Times that they were dropped off in the morning by their bosses and told to stand in line for bak kwa.

Mr Pasopolgti joined the queue at 6.30am, and finally got his hands on 10kg of bak kwa after eight hours in the queue. 'My boss told me to come, so I came, cannot argue. I'm very tired,' said the 42-year-old, who works for a construction company.

A spokesman for Lim Chee Guan said bosses have been sending their workers to buy bak kwa for a few years now.

She added: 'Some workers come in groups. About eight groups of workers came today.'

One group of eight workers in the queue at 3pm on Tuesday was from construction company Yongnam Holdings.

Foreman Hoe Koon Seng said he had gathered seven workers to queue with him because he needed to buy 50kg of bak kwa for his bosses to give away to business associates.

'I was not sure how much each person can buy, so I called more workers,' the 56-year-old said.

At Lim Chee Guan on Tuesday, each person could buy up to 20kg of bak kwa. Each kilo of sliced pork bak kwa was selling for $50.

Asked if they still needed to go back to work, another Indian construction worker Mokles Ur, 24, said: 'This is work. We have been queueing since 8am.'

Mr Teo Ang Soon, who works for his family's construction company, also brought a foreign worker along.

'I do this every year. I buy about 20kg, so I need someone to help me carry it,' he said in Mandarin.

Asked if his worker would be given a day off, he said: 'I gave him two days off - today and tomorrow. But tomorrow he doesn't need to queue.'