Anya Mahtani

Though not common in Singapore, tipping culture is extremely prevalent in Canada and the United States. Known also as a “gratuity” to servers, tipping was originally intended to “show thanks”, like the name implies, to those in the service industry for a job well done. For example, if you went to a restaurant and your waiter gave you excellent recommendations and went above and beyond to ensure that you had a pleasant experience, you might choose to tip them a small amount of money for a job well done. While this would be a sufficient gesture of appreciation 10 years ago, one gets the sense that tipping has become something of an obligation, especially due to the prevalence of contactless payments in a post-COVID world. It is not uncommon to order a coffee at a cafe and be faced with the option of giving a 15%, 18% or 20% tip on the point-of-sales machine, with no obvious option to skip it. Your $5 coffee has just become $6.50 or more, and by the end of the month you’ve blown your budget. While you might be inclined to blame the employees for being greedy or hovering over your shoulder as you decide between percentages, it is actually corporations who have become more and more dependent on customers’ tips to pay employees their minimum wage. Let’s unpack that:In 2024, the average wage for a waiter in Canada was between $14 and $26 an hour. In Cactus Club, a popular chain restaurant, inexperienced waiters start at just $15 an hour, $2.40 lower than the average wage. Unless you work in fine dining, bartend, or are in a managerial position, all of which require large amounts of experience and training, just your wage alone will never be enough to get by. So how did we get here?Tipping was actually not customary in North America at all until the mid 1800s, when wealthy Americans, inspired by their European counterparts, started leaving tips for service staff. While the notion was first met with opposition and even banned in certain states as it was seen as a practice reserved for the rich and snobbish, tipping became ingrained in culture after the civil war, when slaves were expected to get by on tips from customers instead of getting paid fair wages. The custom became increasingly popular until even anti-tipping laws were rescinded, and a new legislation was passed in 1938 that an employees federal minimum wage would be made up of tips and subsidised wages from their employer. Now therein lies the problem- customers are expected to cover an employee’s wages by the law. With high inflation rates leading to lower affordability, how are we as customers expected to pay the wages of employees of the service sector? More importantly, how are employees expected to survive without the promise of consistent wages? If an employee doesn’t earn enough tips per shift, they might not be able to afford basic amenities, let alone live a decent quality of life. Instead, employees are put in the uncomfortable position of needing to over-pander to customers, creating a power dynamic where the customer truly is always right. A waiter might not speak up if they are treated inappropriately if it means they earn enough in tips to eat that day, which could lead to more sinister behaviour by some ill-wishing, entitled customers. If tipping was something established so that employers would not need to pay slaves, should it still be allowed in society today? A study by researchers at Queen’s University found that servers already suffered from burnout, felt emotionally drained and dehumanised by their occupation, and often went above and beyond to ensure they received no complaints. Combining that with the need for tips would place servers in a perpetual state of anxiety, constantly wondering if they’ve done enough to appease customers. While we as consumers unfortunately cannot change wage laws, we can ensure that we tip fairly when we are able to. However, the most significant change we all can make is to be nicer to serving staff when we dine out. Like us, servers are human, and make mistakes or have bad days. Instead of having an attitude of entitlement when something doesn’t go our way, we could show compassion to servers who are trying to do their best in a high stress environment. And, if ever presented the opportunity, we could advocate for servers to receive higher wages, and eventually put an end to obligatory tipping culture once and for all.

Climate change has become one of those big, scary terms that a lot of people are afraid of. Some Singaporeans mask our fear by making thinly veiled statements like- ‘it’s been getting hotter recently’, and respond by turning the AC up and closing our blinds against the blazing sun outside. A lot of us consciously and unconsciously try to avoid the uncomfortable truth that our climate is changing rapidly, and choose not to acknowledge the full extent of the issues it has and will continue to cause. We cushion ourselves from the full extent of climate change in our controlled environments, choosing to ignore the fact that global warming is changing our climate rapidly because it has not fully impacted us yet. This is what is known as climate privilege. Let’s use the April Heatwave in 2023 as an example. Last year, I decided to remain in Canada until June after completing my school term. Temperatures were at an all-time high worldwide but were particularly high in Asia. In West India, 13 people died from a heatstroke at an award’s ceremony, where temperatures were up to 45℃. Schools were shut down, and people struggles to live out their daily lives. This heatwave was record-breaking; people had died because of the extreme weather, but no one was talking about it in Canada. People went about their live, flocking to beachesand lakes, and installing AC units to keep cool. Most people, including myself, turned a blind eye to what was happening elsewhere, and focused on keeping ourselves comfortable. I felt helpless as I scrolled through the devastating news reports yet grateful that I did not have to endure the heat back in Singapore. Asia had taken the brunt of the climate change, allowing the rest of the world to turn a blind eye towards how scary this change really was. Canada’s residents only started to become more aware of just how record-breaking the summer heat was when uncontrollable wildfires started to spread rapidly across the country, displacing 185,000 people. More than 16.5 million hectares of land was destroyed, and wildfire smoke had spread as far as New York, turning the sky a hazy orange typically seen in dystopian films. It was only then that North American residents were forced to come to terms with just how bad the climate situation had become, something they were able to avoid when it was occurring in Asia, and not in their own backyard.While at first Canadians enjoyed the unusually warm end of spring, Asian was burning up under the extreme temperatures. Little did they know they would be soon to follow. Photo taken by Anya MahtaniCountries in Asia, especially developing countries, are impacted the most by global warming. According to the United Nations, Asia is heating up faster than the global average, with poorer countries being the most susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Those living in poorer countries rely heavily on their local resources and agriculture to make a living, and hence feel its impact more harshly. As the temperature has increased over the years, precipitation levels have fallen, and more extreme events like droughts and typhoons have started occurring. The number of natural resources and the agriculture industry have suffered greatly because of the changing, unpredictable weather, resulting in higher levels of scarcity that cannot keep up with the growing population. Not only do these countries lack the resources and funds to adapt to climate change, the livelihoods of people living there will be severely impacted as the years go on. Most unfair of all, poorer countries only contribute one-tenth of the world’s emissions despite being the most heavily impacted.Even though other countries like Canada, the United States, and Singapore have the finances, resources and infrastructure that will help to pad the effects of climate change, we would be naïve to think that this will last forever. As developed as we are, we are still dependent on surrounding countries for agriculture and resources, which will continue to deplete as the Earth warms. Water will become scarce as precipitation decreases. Flooding risks will increase as sea levels rise, and it may soon become too hot to even be outside for more than an hour. Eventually, only the extremely wealthy will be able to afford basic commodities, which even then does not guarantee their survival.The harsh reality is, at some point, climate change will affect us all. Some might lose their houses to rising sea levels, some might die of heat stroke, some might not be able to feed their family because of the loss of agriculture, the list goes on. Right now, less economically advantaged countries are the first to feel the effects, but wealthier countries will be soon to follow. By remaining comfortable in our privileged position, we put off finding solutions tackling the issue at hand. If we let this go on, the Earth will become a barren landscape unsuitable for human life. The first, scariest, and most important step, would be to stop hiding from the fact that our Earth is dying. By acknowledging our privilege, we can then use it by donating our time, money, and skills to stop climate change from progressing any further. We need to wake up, and fast, if we are to have any hope for a future.

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Anya Mahtani

Tipping for Survival- When Courtesy Becomes Obligation

Climate Privilege- Why Ignorance is Not Bliss