$450 flight for curry puffs? Meituan rider said to have flown from China to Singapore to fulfil order

How much would you pay for a curry puff?

One customer in China was apparently willing to fork out the price of flight tickets to Singapore for a delivery rider to travel here and pick up an order from Hong Lim Curry Puff.

A video shared on Chinese video app Douyin on Tuesday (Sept 1) shows a man in a yellow Meituan uniform placing an order at Hong Lim Curry Puff's stall.

Meituan is a Chinese platform offering a range of services, including on-demand food delivery.

Speaking to the person behind the camera, the man claimed that he was tasked to purchase a box of six curry puffs, with flavours including curry potato and sardine. The total came up to $13.50.

The man also said the air tickets to Singapore cost 2,400 yuan (S$453). He did not say which part of China he came from.

When asked about his pay for this gig, he declined to comment.

According to the video, the customer who hired the delivery man had once patronised the curry puff store and wished to eat the pastry again.

The video was filmed on Aug 31 at Hong Lim Curry Puff's outlet in Paya Lebar Quarter, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Responding to queries from Shin Min, co-founder Victoria Loh, 37, said a newly hired female employee was working at the time. 

As the employee did not understand Chinese, she contacted Loh for assistance.

Loh said she initially did not recognise the Meituan uniform and assumed the man was simply a regular delivery rider who had come to collect an order.

"My employee said he hadn't seen that delivery platform, and I didn't think much of it at the time," said Loh, adding that she had asked the man to pay for the order in cash.

Loh noted that it was only after someone came to film the interaction that she realised that the man appeared to have travelled from overseas.

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