Family in Singapore sets up drink vending machine as token of appreciation for deliverymen
KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — A family in Singapore has set up a drink vending machine outside of their house for deliverymen on work errands.
Installed in January, the machine had dispersed 637 drinks that month to food deliverymen, postmen or anyone who shows up at Dr Eric Chiam’s house in Yarrow Gardens, The Straits Times reported .
The idea for the machine came as the 51-year-old general practitioner and his family wanted to find a way of offering a cold drink to people who came to the house to deliver food or the mail — even when they were not at home.
“We use a lot of delivery services as a family. We typically try to offer drinks to the delivery workers, but we are not always able to meet them at the gate,” he said.
So Chiam and his wife, with their 15-year-old triplets Andre, Ethan and Sophia, came up with the vending machine idea last November.
They refer to it as TYVMdrinks, or Thank You Very Much drinks.
“We do this because it is a way for us to thank them for bringing us food at all times, under the hot sun and in the rain, especially since it is now the monsoon season,” said Chiam.
The children are largely in charge of planning and marketing. Andre planned the project, Ethan designed the vending machine logo and stickers using graphic design platform Canva and Sophia helms the Instagram account.
The project is funded by Chiam while his wife, Dr Lisa Chen, 51, also a general practitioner, chooses the drinks and puts in the orders.
Setting up and decorating the vending machine cost about S$3,000 (RM9,965), and the drinks cost less than 50 cents (RM1.66) each.
After news of the vending machine spread, Chiam said it is encouraging to receive kind comments.
“But the most rewarding part of this project is definitely seeing the smiles of deliverymen, drivers and service people who use it,” he said.
