Restaurant in SAFRA Toa Payoh clubhouse suspended for selling expired food, other unhygienic practices

SINGAPORE — Tim Palace, a restaurant at the SAFRA club in Toa Payoh, has been suspended for two weeks by the National Environment Agency (NEA), for selling expired pre-packed food and other health offences.

A notice on the agency's website said the restaurant will be suspended from Monday (June 5) to June 18.

Tim Palace, a Chinese restaurant, accumulated 14 demerit points over the past year and was fined S$1,000 for the following offences:

• Failure to keep its premise clean (4 demerit points)
• Failure to register assistant (6 demerit points)
• Selling pre-packed food past their expiry date (4 demerit points).

According to the NEA, a licensee who accumulates 12 or more demerit points during a 12-month period may have his licence suspended for a period of either two or four weeks, or cancelled, depending on his past record.

All food handlers working in the suspended premises would also be required to attend and pass the Basic Food Hygiene Course again before they can resume work as food handlers.

The management of Tim Palace initially wrote on its Facebook page on Sunday that the restaurant would be "closed for renovation" and resume business on June 19. After the TODAY report came out, that Facebook post was deleted.

In its place, a new Facebook post stated that the restaurant would be "closed for maintenance". That Facebook post was also taken down about one hour later.

CLARIFICATION: In an earlier version of this article, it was reported that Tim Palace had received six demerit points for failure to keep its premises free of rodent infestation. The NEA has since clarified that its previous suspension notice was incorrect. Tim Palace received six demerit points for failing to register an assistant.