A group of Deyi Secondary students have taken matters into their own hands by contacting the media about something they perceived to be an act of gross injustice.
Email tip-off
On Nov. 1, 2018, an email sender who identified himself or herself as the admin of the Deyi Secondary School’s meme page (@thedeyiansdigest) got in touch with Mothership about an “issue” between the school’s principal and the tuck shop’s drink stall owner.
The latter, known as Madam Yap to students, was allegedly fired without warning.
The reason? For supposedly providing disposable cups to a group of students for takeaway.
Here’s a summary of the email:
A few days before Nov. 1, the students learned that Yap was fired
Yap’s husband passed away a few years ago, and manning the drink stall was apparently “one of the sources of income she had”
The students interviewed Yap, who reportedly said that she was fired without proper warning
This after she allegedly provided some disposable plastic cups to a group of students, who had begged for it in order to take the drinks home
The use of disposable cups was apparently not in line with the school’s environmentally-friendly approach
The students were caught by their principal, Madam Lim Ai Poo, when they went back to class instead of heading home
The principal allegedly did not approve of this “poor behaviour” by the drink stall owner, and allegedly saw to the dismissal without warning
Yap reportedly told the students that the principal was rude to her on a regular basis
The student ended the email with a plea for Mothership to “spread awareness” of this issue:
“This issue and mistreatment of our beloved drink stall aunty has made many Deyians furious and this is most definitely the most popular topic in my school.
Therefore, on behalf of my school, I would sincerely hope that you would help us spread awareness of this issue.”
Vacating by Nov. 15
In the same email, the student mentioned that an Instagram account (@deyidrinkstall) has been created in dedication of the drink stall owner.
The account is reportedly managed by Yap’s grandchild.
One of the posts mentioned that Yap was “not given a chance to continue with her contract”:
Another post revealed that Yap has until Nov. 15 to vacate the stall, and is clearing her drinks in the meantime:
However, the student who provided the tip-off did not reply to further queries over both email and Instagram about what happened.
Deyi Secondary: Yap fired due to hygiene concerns
In response to Mothership queries, the principal of De Yi Secondary issued a statement to clarify matters.
While Lim clarified that Yap’s contract was indeed not renewed for 2019, the principal added it was due to how the drink stall owner “did not maintain proper hygiene practices for her stall”.
Yap was allegedly reminded of her hygiene practices in February, May, and August 2018, but no improvements have been made, according to the school’s statement.
Additionally, the school had reportedly made several requests throughout the year for Yap to sell healthier items (e.g. cut fruits, fruit juice), but Yap allegedly did not comply.
This is the statement in full:
“This is an unfortunate episode.
The school’s canteen committee regularly briefs all stall owners on the importance of providing healthier food and maintaining strict stall hygiene, for the sake of the students’ health and well-being. The school conducts periodic reviews to ensure that our stall holders abide by this.
The school informed Mdm Yap in February and May this year that she did not maintain proper hygiene practices for her stall (e.g. cardboard boxes stored behind her stall frequently attracted pests). Despite this, her stall hygiene did not improve, which led to a further reminder in August 2018.
The school also made several requests to Mdm Yap throughout the year to include the sale of cut fruits, fresh fruit juice and other healthier food items to encourage healthier eating habits among students. However, Mdm Yap continued selling only canned and packet drinks.
As a result of these incidents, the school had to make the difficult decision not to renew Mdm Yap’s contract for 2019. The use of disposable cups was never an issue, since Mdm Yap had already switched to reusable cups in 2017.”
https://mothership.sg/2018/11/deyi-secondary-fires-drink-stall-response/?fbclid=IwAR0MMqgQVlb0iyEG1-as1eheshJQu6BBWZw-fmarDGbB41UyVSriRNmCwVc
SHAME ON YA DEYI SEC FOR BULLYING AN AH MA!!!!!!!!!!!
Real-life lessons on values taught by the Principal, the School and the Ministry:
Obey or be LEEmoved. Stage a Fit and Fix for self-preservation. He/She who holds absolute POWER, the LEEder, is always Right.
DEYI SECONDARY PRINCIPAL A LIAR - STATEMENT FROM MDM YAP'S GRAND DAUGHTER
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Mdm Yap (my grandmother) has dedicated half of her life to the drinks stall ever since Deyi Secondary School opened, even after my grandfather passed on. Even though it might be a small role to some, she has touched the lives of many students and staff.
She was heartbroken when the news broke, and couldn’t eat or sleep much. When she enquired for a reason from the principal, none was given. Moreover, there was less than a month of a notice period, which was definitely a sudden blow to her seeing how she’s rather old already.
As for the principal’s statement, I’d like to first mention that my grandmother was only given 1 warning letter throughout her whole career. It was definitely a shock, since this concerned her hygiene practices.
NEA has issued her an A grade for hygiene consistently year after year, I’m sure that speaks for itself, and moreover, I live with her and I can vouch that she’s a very clean person, almost to the extent of a cleanliness freak honestly.
As for the cardboard boxes, right after my grandmother was informed to stop using them, she went to Toyogo and purchased over $600 worth of plastic containers to store the drinks. The plastic containers are now all stacked up at home; she complied and spent so much money doing so, yet she was still fired.
All of her drinks sold bear the healthier choice symbol and she sells fruits as well, so I don’t understand what is the deal about selling unhealthy drinks?
What bugs me most is that we merely received a courtesy statement of sorts, rather than a direct reply supplied to my heartbroken grandmother.
This is the principal of Deyi Secondary: Mdm Lim Ai Poo. Makes you wanna slap her cheebye face right?
Its okay Mdm Yap can turn to picking cardboards to earn a livelihood; according to TCJ she can also keep fit at the same time. ;)
I wonder if the principal ever bought drinks from the stall. Firing the stall owner without warning seems too harsh of a punishment.