A local woman named Mellissa Seah took to social media yesterday to express her outrage over what she perceived as narrow-minded judgment against her and her family.
According to Seah, during a recent dining experience at Manhattan Fish Market in Changi Airport, a member of the restaurant’s staff said that Seah’s mother would be ineligible to redeem a complimentary fish and chips dish — a deal that the establishment had publicized as a Mother’s Day holiday promotion — because, as the staffer said, her “family is not complete” as the “father (of the household) is missing.”
In her Facebook post dated June 5, Seah recounted the experience and expressed her disbelief that “a brand like Manhattan Fish Market still has the mindset that a complete family unit is one that is made up of father, mother and child.”
In the same post, Seah challenged the management of Manhattan Fish Market for their antiquated views, writing: “Just because father isn’t there so our family isn’t complete. How is Mom any less deserving just because Dad wasn’t there? … How about families who have lost their Mom or Dad to illness, or any other circumstances, make their family any less complete, unworthy, undeserving? How about families with 2 mommies or 2 daddies? Or children who are brought up by grandparents because they lost their parents?”
This post, which has been shared over 710 times as of this article’s publication, has caused a stir online — with many netizens criticizing the American-style seafood restaurant for not thinking through the terms and conditions of their deal.
Manhattan Fish Market has since issued an apology to Seah, in which it asserted that the restaurant would take steps to ensure that all of its staff members would be properly trained to prevent similar situations from arising in the future.
