SINGAPORE, Sept 4 — A food delivery rider from China appears to have taken “going the extra mile” rather literally after flying to Singapore to collect just six curry puffs worth S$13.50 (RM43) for a customer.

The unusual food run was spotted at PLQ Mall at about 4.30pm on August 31, where the rider, dressed in the distinctive yellow uniform of Chinese delivery giant Meituan, turned up at Hong Lim Curry Puff to collect the order.

According to Singapore-based media organisation Mothership, Xiaohongshu user “Chloe番茄力” was eating at the mall’s fourth-floor food court with her mother and eight-month-old baby when she noticed the rider speaking to staff at the stall.

At first, she thought he might be having trouble communicating and considered stepping in to help.

Then she spotted the Meituan uniform.

“I wondered when Meituan had expanded to Singapore,” Chloe said.

Intrigued, she began filming and later spoke to the rider, who told her his customer was from China and had ordered six curry puffs in curry potato and sardine flavours.

The snacks themselves cost just S$13.50.

Getting to Singapore, however, was rather more expensive.

The rider said his plane ticket had cost about 2,400 yuan, or roughly S$455 — more than 30 times the price of the food he was collecting.

He declined to reveal how much he would be paid in tips for the cross-border errand.

Hong Lim Curry Puff founder Victoria Loh told Mothership that she had travelled to Hainan for a roadshow in May, raising the possibility that the customer had first encountered the brand there.

Loh said she had been surprised by how warmly the curry puffs were received by locals during the trip.

For the two-year-old business, the extraordinary order was also a vote of confidence.

“We are so happy that we can actually share the taste of Singapore,” she said.

Whether the six curry puffs ultimately survived their own journey back to China in peak condition was not disclosed.

But for one particularly determined customer, it seems a craving for Singapore curry puffs was worth crossing borders for.