Yesterday, my vaunted colleague GY wrote an emotional piece about the closure of McDonald’s.
It’s so touching that any McDonald’s lover would cry after reading it.
But his disturbing love for McDonald’s McGriddles aside, he raised up 5 burning questions on the tip of every Singaporeans’ minds:
- What’ll Happen to The Staff?
- What’ll Happen to the Food?
- Does the Closure Have to Do With Their Employees Being Tested Positive?
- What’s Their Real Stand?
- Is That a Wrong Message Or Is There Something More to It?
While I laud him for his inquisitive mind
I’ll be honest and say most people would only be interested in question 1 and 2.
And, it turns out, McDonald’s themselves have stepped forward to answer the first two questions.
What’ll Happen to The Staff?
Previously, when McDonald’s announced that they’re stopping takeaway services for their food, they’ll continue paying their employees’ salaries.
But would it be the same now, considering that McDonald’s essentially making zero income?
Well, according to an ST report, McDonald’s Singapore has said that it’ll continue paying its employees whose jobs were disrupted by Covid-19.
By the way, we’re talking more than 10,000 employees here.
“The next two weeks will allow our employees to stay home and be assured that their jobs are secure,” a spokesperson for the fastfood giant said.
What’ll Happen to the Food?
Unlike hawkers, McDonald’s has a huge supply of ingredients always ready to be sent out to various outlets:
“McDonald’s has a steady supply of ingredients and pre-cooked products, which explains why you’d never hear “Sorry, out of stock” in McDonald’s.”
Reader Bao: Wait, what about nasi lemak burgers?
Shush you.
What will happen to these ingredients?
Well, McDonald’s has also said that it will throw away perishable items with short shelf lives.
In short, salvage what they can and discard what they can’t since they weren’t given a lot of prep time beforehand too.
Reader Bao: Any chance they can “discard” the items to me? My nickname in primary school was Rubbish Bin.
Other Fast-Food Chains Suddenly Experiences A Boom
The effects of McDonald’s closing temporarily in Singapore could be felt almost immediately.
For one, while they gave Singaporeans a “few more hours” to get their last McDonald’s fix, there was so much demand many couldn’t access the website.
Scalpers are also selling McDonald’s items on Carousell at sky-high prices. Anyone interested in a Fillet-o-Fish for $70?
And other fast-food outlets took to their Facebook pages to seek customers’ understanding for a delay in orders because their kitchens are getting overworked.
If there’s one thing this incident has proven, it shows that McDonald’s is still the number one fast-food restaurant in Singapore.
