Guess where this is?

You would never be able to guess where this place is.

Had I not seen this with my own eyes, I might not believe it too.

Plastic bowls containing yellow-coloured soup, with chopsticks, spoons and forks thrown around. A plate of noodles and a can of soft drink left uncleared on the chair.

Half-eaten plates and bowls of noodles, half-finished sandwiches, empty cans of soft drinks and beer bottles piled high up on tables. And I do not mean just one or two tables, but at least six or more.

Yellow coloured food (or puke?!?) was spilled on the floor and left unmopped.

Yucks.

You might think this is a scene in a dirty hawker centre, which does not have much regard for hygiene, or its customers. You might think this is somewhere away from home.

Wrong.

This place is right here in Singapore.

You might guess this is a food court tucked away in some unknown and unpopular part of Singapore, where not many people frequent and cleanliness is perhaps not of the highest concern.

Wrong again.

This is a place where thousands of Singaporeans and more importantly, foreigners, pass by everyday. More than 100,000 people pass through on weekends.

This is the place which registered a 9.1 per cent growth in passenger movement in the first half of the year, with over 16.8 million people passing through between January and June.

This the place that is often associated with the terms "world class", "first class", "number one" and "best in the world".

This is none other than Singapore's pride--Changi Airport.

Ouch.

These words stung my ears, and they still do.

Last Sunday (6th August), I went to the Changi Airport with my family. We were scheduled to board a plane at 6 plus in the morning. We had checked in at around 5 am, entered the terminal, and wanted to get a cup of coffee and grab some food while we wait for the plane.

We decided to patronise this 24-hour food gallery on the second floor.

We made our way up the escalator but stopped short as we walked in. Needless to say, what we saw came as a shock. That was totally unimaginable and beyond comprehension.

The 24-hour food gallery is styled like a high-class food court, and as the name suggests, is still in service when we arrived.

Stall vendors were around, and I am sure cleaners were still at work too. But no one came forward to clear the mess and the eyesore. And we are not just talking about any hawker centre or foodcourt, this is Changi Airport!

As a food gallery within the airport premises which provides exclusive service to passengers, both locals and foreigners, who are waiting to board the aircrafts, such a dirty sight is certainly beyond acceptance.

You might argue that 5 am in the morning is the off peak period and since there would not be a surge of customers, the filthy tables need not be cleaned that "quickly". This might have acceptable in other places, but in Changi Airport, which boasts of world-class standard and has a reputation and image to uphold, this is beyond the question.

And the fact that this is happening right under the nose of Changi Airport, which recently proudly announced its growth in passenger movement, comes across as a big joke. I wonder how many of the foreigners who have seen this sight will be laughing at us?

When my family and I arrived at the food gallery, there was just two or three customers. My guess is that more had left when they entered the food gallery and were greeted with this ugly sight.

We waited for a while to see if any cleaner or vendor would take the initiative to clear the tables. No one came. We left then without getting anything.

We had completely lost our appetite.