If you find yourself in the central business district at lunchtime, and you see tables covered in tissue packets, it means you’ll have to eat your lunch elsewhere. The act of securing a table with tissue packets is the Singaporean solution to the age-old problem of simultaneously grabbing food at a food court and competing for a seat once your meal has been purchased. The system, called “chope,” is a Singlish word derived from the word “chop” and simply means to leave one’s mark.
So as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them—grab a pack of tissues (usually sold for 30 cents each) and place them at an empty table to reserve your own spot.
