to tip or not to tip?

[tipper]

some excellent points.

Sverre: why is it important where I am from?

Get real wiv it: i always wondered where the 10% went, and thought it's less likely that it ends in the pockets of waiters and waiteresses.

I guess the bottom line is it's a matter of personal preference. And unlike some of the other places, it's not considered mandatory.

[whitebox]

it is definitely not compulsory to tip in singapore.  you'll get used to it after some time...however, i still do tip waiting staff at restaurants if the service was good. it's not that easy to get good service nowadays.  Sometimes, waiters or waitresses just seem to look through you like a piece of glass at some places.

[LULU]

I do leave a tip if I've had very good service - sometimes just the rounding up of the bill. However, one thing that really annoys me is the automatic adding of the 10% that they do both here and in some restraurants in London for example. This is particularly annoying if you pay by credit card as they will leave another space beneath as if for you to add the tip - when it is already there! Is it possible to ask for this 10% to be removed if the service is crap (which it often is). Doubtful.

Very annoying to think that that 10% isn't even going directly to the staff.

Just out of interest, has anyone ever refused to pay that automatic 10%?

[Don't Tip]

I never tip as most times the service is crap and the restaurants add the usual bull of the 10% service change, 4% GST, 1% Gov tax, etc......

Oh, some restaurants charge for towels, pickles, titbits, talking to you, etc.

[Tipped Off]

"The 10% does not go the waiting staff. It goes to the Training School (Shatec) for training of staff. (The theory is that they're responsible for improving F and B Service in Singapore)."

Then what do restaurants who don't charge a 10% Service Charge do ?  There are a few places that don't charge you this fixed fee.  These are the only places where I will leave a tip.

[Loops]

Tip if the service was good, don't if the service was bad (unless of course it states 'no tipping').

If it's a restaurant you like and will return to, then I would say that to tip would be a good idea.

[celestar]

Time to clear the air:

10% goes to employers/ company's revenue - they claim that their waiting staff's pay already take into account that 10%. (yeah right)

P.S. if service is bad, you can get them to take off the 10% service fee!!! not exactly done often but you can raise hell.

Notice that in hotels, there's that additional cess of 1% - that goes to STB (eventually to Shatec and the likes I guess) Notice that restaurants which are not in hotels don't have this charge.

Then, there's the 4% GST.

[Waiter]

Is this the most boring thread on the web!

For God's sake make you're own minds up about tipping and get on with it. There seems to be a competition here as to who can be most sanctimonious!

Now, shut up!

[huh]

Where they don't levy a service charge, it's probably already included in the price of the food...

[rolling ball]

Even though I believe it is good to tip a good service. One of my friends mentioned that if you tip too generous or people tip too often, the receiver will start working for tips instead of for better service in general. meaning that usually good tipsters are the foreigner, therefore they will give foreigner better service than the locals.
The culture in singapore is already there. Taxi drivers are willing to refuse you service for the chance of getting a better fare in the city when it is close to midnight.
Here's what happened. four of us just finished hanging out at Boat Quay after 11pm and decided to take a cab home at 4 places. The moment the drivers heard that they have to drop people at 4 different places, they said that they can't do it with different reasons but all are fairly abrupt about it. From what I can deduce is that the want to stay close to the city so they can drive more people and after midnight, they'll get more extra fares by doing short trips.
After 4 tries, we just gave up and went home separately with other transportation. That's how $$ oriented singaporean cabs are. I used to tip 1-3$ for cabs, now I don't think I'll tip anymore.