SINGAPORE — For 15 minutes, Mr David Wong had been waiting patiently in his car as it crept towards the collection point for his eagerly anticipated lunch order.

“(My wife) is not in a good mood today, so I thought I would get something to cheer her up,” said the 35-year-old consultant. “I hope she likes it. She has been craving nuggets and curry sauce for the longest time.”

Mr Wong was one of at least 16 drivers waiting for their lunch orders in the drive-through line at McDonald’s TradeHub 21 in Boon Lay Way when TODAY visited around 12.30pm on Monday (May 11) — the day the fast-food chain reopened drive-through and takeaway services in Singapore after a closure of about three weeks.

The queue was so long that at one point, it wound around the building from the collection point all the way back to the carpark's entrance.

A staff member from the outlet, who declined to give her name as she was not authorised to speak to the media, said that it was “a little busier than usual”, referring to the period before the closure.

She attributed the uptick in drive-through orders to the resumption of drive-through and takeaway services. In line with the circuit breaker rules more generally, it remains off-limits for customers to eat the McDonald’s fare in the restaurant.

On April 18, McDonald’s announced that from the next day, it would suspend all its restaurant operations in Singapore, including delivery and drive-through services, after seven of its employees tested positive for Covid-19.

Customers queuing at a McDonald's outlet in Simei at lunchtime on May 11, 2020. Photo: Raj Nadarajan/TODAY

In a Facebook post on Sunday, McDonald's Singapore said most of its restaurants will be open from Monday onwards, between 7am and 9pm, though its dessert kiosks and McCafe counters will remain closed. It will also not be offering 24-hour services during the circuit breaker, which is set to end on June 1.

It added that some of its restaurants will have different opening hours, while those located in parks, tourist attractions and some institutions will remain closed.

Despite the popularity of McDonald’s in Singapore, there were no huge crowds at the 10 outlets that TODAY visited on Monday.

At TradeHub 21, aside from the drivers, there were around 12 customers on foot queuing to have their temperatures taken before entering the outlet to place their orders.

A similar number were seen at the Pasir Ris Sports Centre outlet around lunchtime, while fewer than 12 customers were seen waiting at the outlets at Elias Community Centre, White Sands — both also in Pasir Ris — and the outlet beside Simei MRT Station before that.

There were at least 10 cars waiting in line at the McDonald’s drive-through outlet at Kallang around 4pm.

At Yew Tee Square, there were significantly fewer customers — six were spotted queuing to get into the outlet before the lunch peak, around 11am, while another nine were seen waiting for their orders.

A similar scene played out at the McDonald’s store at Lot One Shoppers’ Mall in Chua Chu Kang around noon.

Staff members at the Yew Tee and Lot One outlets, who also asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said not many people showed up to buy breakfast when both outlets opened at 8am.

But the crew at Lot One was occupied with several online orders in the morning.

One GrabFood delivery rider, who wanted to be known only as Jo, said he had been kept busy since 7am delivering McDonald’s breakfast to customers.

The 49-year-old, who was waiting to collect three lunchtime sets, said that by noon, he had already fulfilled seven orders for McDonald’s since he started work.

“The biggest order I had was eight breakfast meals,” he said.

Seven other GrabFood delivery riders were seen queuing after Jo for their orders, which they collected from a table that had been placed outside the restaurant along the common walkway.

A McDonald's Singapore spokesperson declined to reveal the number of orders it received on Monday morning for “business confidentiality reasons”.

But the spokesperson said that the fast-food chain had recorded a “higher demand” in online orders than usual, and customers were directed to order via the McDelivery website, which brought them to a virtual waiting room to join an online queue.

TODAY has sought comments from Grab about the number of delivery orders it received for McDonald’s on Monday morning.

A McDonald's staff member taking a customer's temperature before he is allowed into the fast-food outlet at Causeway Point in Woodlands on May 11, 2020. Photo: Ooi Boon Keong/TODAY

When asked what prompted them to join the queues for fast food, some customers said they missed it. Others said they happened to be passing by and bought it as it was convenient.

Housewife Jacqueline Lim, who declined to reveal her age and was accompanied by her 11-year-old daughter, said McDonald’s had been closed for some time and her daughter wanted it for breakfast for a change.

Madam Yang Lei said she was buying groceries and was on the way home when she saw the outlet at Yew Tee Square open.

“I thought I would just pick up some breakfast here for convenience,” said the 45-year-old housewife in Mandarin, adding that she also got a drink for her daughter "as a treat”. 

Meanwhile, Tiong Bahru resident Manoj Prabhoda Chandran woke up with a rumbling in his belly, and was thumbing through a list of breakfast ideas on his phone when he finally settled on the fast-food chain.

“I did not really miss it, to be honest. I did not plan to get it today,” said the 34-year-old producer. “I guess, knowing that they were reopening today played at the back of mind when I woke up."