The current KTV lounge cluster (87 new Covid-19 cases as of July 15) has unleashed an unfortunate chain reaction in the F&B world. It has led to the temporary closure of Toa Payoh Lor 5 Food Centre after a stall assistant at a satay stall there tested positive for the virus. It also caused a dip in business at some Vietnamese eateries that 8days.sg reached out to. The index case for this cluster, or patient zero, is a Vietnamese woman on a short-term visit pass who frequented several KTV lounges (which supposedly pivoted to become eateries) as a social hostess. However, more hostesses in this cluster reportedly include other nationalities too.

This comes just a few days after diners were allowed to gather once again in groups of up to five. Minister for Health and co-chair of the Covid-19 multi-ministerial task force Ong Ye Kung announced yesterday that there are presently no plans to reverse the relaxation of rules, given that vaccination rates are now higher.

Amy Tran (right in pic), 33, the Vietnamese co-owner of Viet BBQ joint 123 ZÔ in Geylang, says: “After [yesterday’s] news, we had less customers today. People started cancelling reservations. We went from full house [initially] to only five [customers] today.”

Her Singaporean husband Peter Tan (left), 46, co-owner of the restaurant, is more worried about what comes next. “A good 70 percent of our customers are actually returning customers. They know that we’re above board and doing the right things. It’s new customers who’d think twice [about visiting our restaurant] after reading the news.”

“It has been very quiet this week [since news of the KTV cluster broke]. Very few people came down – only about one, two [customers per hour],” says Emina Abdullah, the 31-year-old Vietnamese-born hawker who opened halal pho stall Emina Mi at Old Airport Road Food Centre in May. “My customers know [I’m not involved with the KTV biz], but some are worried because of the long queues we had recently after [8days.sg’s] article.”

A Hanoi-born hawker we spoke to, who declined to be named, emphasises: “The Vietnamese community needs [customers] to be fair and generous to us. It’s just a few people who’ve done wrong things”.

Amy concurs with his sentiment: “Listing [the KTV cluster index case’s] nationality might lead to people getting the wrong impression [about the Vietnamese]. We are all living here, running [legal] businesses, obeying the law. We hope to be treated fairly.”

None of the folks interviewed for this story received any untoward comments regarding their nationality. “So far no one is complaining yet,” she says with a laugh. “Because they [the customers] are [simply] not coming!”

When asked if she was concerned that dining in would be taken off the menu once more, Amy replies, “Yes, but also no. Yes, because the cluster [if not controlled well] may lead the government to take action [like possibly banning dine-in customers again], and there will be a huge effect on our business. But also no, because I believe we’re ready to live with the virus as [most residents] get vaccinated [and it will be business as usual].”

Her hubby Peter adds: “We’ll just have to live with it for now. We get that the government is trying to keep everyone safe. We’ve been able to survive [so far] thanks to [business gained from Facebook food groups] like Hawkers United - Dabao 2020.”

Emina muses, “No one knows what will happen next. We’ll just listen to the authorities [and follow the rules].”

123 ZÔ is at 747 Geylang Rd, S389654. Tel: 9669 9655; Emina Mi is at #01-47 Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Rd, S390051. Tel: 8742 8297.