MARCH 21 ― The recent furore over some Penang kopitiams charging customers RM2 if they don't order drinks is, interestingly enough, not really new.
About two years ago, I was asked by a kopitiam aunty along Jalan Penang to pay 50 sen because I just wanted to eat the Hokkien Mee sold at one of the stalls there.
I confess I was a bit irked at the time but, well, since it was only 50 sen I didn’t think much about it; I felt paying that small amount was better than paying RM2-3 for a drink I didn’t want.
But the recent news is that kopitiams are charging RM2 — essentially the price of a teh tarik — if you don’t order a drink. This price (four times the one I was asked to pay previously) will no doubt piss many people off.
I won’t rehash all the arguments why it shouldn’t be done, except to highlight the main one which is that people simply hate being asked to pay for something they believe should be offered free of charge. Numerous examples abound and they vary over time.
I recall the one time I was walking along Patong Beach in Phuket, found a nice spot, sat down but then about five seconds later this guy came up to me and said I need to pay 100 Baht (RM13) for taking that spot.
I was like, “What! I can’t even sit on what looks like a public beach for free?” I’m glad it hasn’t happened in Port Dickson, where public beaches still look thankfully open to all sans payment, but how long before it does?
Many years before that beach incident, I was shocked that using the toilets at shopping malls incurred a 20-50 sen charge. I mean, isn’t answering Nature’s call something every living being is entitled to do FOC?!
Even to this day some people cannot accept being asked to pay 50 sen to RM1 for a glass of drinking water at a restaurant. I mean, if even KLIA can give free water from a water fountain, why do eateries need to charge customers for a glass of water which costs them practically nothing?
Another example is plastic bags. Yes we all understand the impact to the environment but let’s face it many (usually smaller) shops still give free plastic bags to hold the stuff you bought — which makes having to pay for the same kind of bags kind of weird when you’re required to.
Don’t even get me started about Elon Musk’s plan to charge all X users US$1 (RM4.74) per year. No doubt that’s a small amount but we all know that a serious categorical Rubicon has been crossed each time we leave the shores of FREE.
What else, now free, may be charged (however paltry an amount)? Hiking trails? Airport and hotel chairs? Local calls on your mobile? WhatsApp?! Instagram?! The horror!
Why not free?
As with Musk’s X, so with the (stated) reasons from the Penang kopitiams (which have, as of the time of writing, removed the RM2 charge): Cost recovery remains critical for any business.
The relevant Penang kopitiams said the key reason they began charging non-drinkers was because more and more tourists began hogging the tables thereby affecting the available space for potential patrons who would pay for drinks.
If true, then it’s no surprise that this would eat into expected daily earnings and — to be fair — who would ever accept this without a fight? Customers see the RM2 charge as an unjust ad-hoc penalty; but those who run the business see a drop in business.
Perhaps one way of walking the line between “what consumers expect” and “the costs of running a business” is to simply let the market decide. If I don’t want to pay to not order any drinks, maybe I should just leave or take-away the food I want to eat.
Maybe if enough people refuse to patronise said kopitiam (as a result of the “sitting charge”, the boss will reconsider it?).
Likewise, if I don’t want to pay for plastic bags, I should just bring my own. If I can’t stand paying even one dollar to continue using X, why not just cancel my account.
And so on and so forth.
Let the market play itself out. “Willing buyer, willing seller” still applies today, doesn’t it?
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
