Queuing at the Hawker Stall

In the picture, a queue of about five people has formed at one hawker stall while the people are waiting to order their food. A primary school student is standing in the queue holding a wallet, ready to pay. Everyone is standing patiently one behind the other, and nobody is pushing forward or cutting in. What I also noticed is that the neighbouring stalls have no queue at all, which suggests this one is particularly popular rather than simply busy.

I queued for almost an hour with my father for chicken rice at a stall that had been featured on television. We joined the queue at eleven and by the time we reached the front, the stall had run out of the roasted version and we had to take steamed instead. My father was quite annoyed but refused to admit the wait had been a mistake. It was good chicken rice, though I am fairly sure it was not sixty minutes better than the stall near our block.

I think Singaporeans queue because food matters a great deal to us, and a stall with a long queue is trusted more than any advertisement. Waiting also becomes part of the experience, since you feel you have earned the meal by the time you sit down. It shows something good about us as well, because a long orderly queue means people accept that everyone waits their turn regardless of who they are. That said, I do feel we sometimes queue simply because others are queuing, without knowing whether it is worth it.