Drinks to go

There's generally 2 options when buying drinks to go from Singapore hawker centres: "plastic bag" or "cup" (the latter tends to be 20 cents more expensive)

The plastic bag

Having a drink in a plastic bag with a straw, is a really strange and rather mingin (that's Glasgow slang for disgusting, filthy etc) concept to me...not only because they remind me of those urinary bags seen in hospitals, but also because even HOT tea & coffee etc are put into them!

I'm quite a health-conscious person, so I'm aware that the heat dissolves particles and chemicals from your straw, which are leeched into your beverage and consumed by you! :O
It seems to be widely known that research has found increased BPA ingestion to be linked with serious problems such as increased risk of cancers, diabetes, decreased sperm production, alterations in hormones...so why is it such a common takeaway method here in Singapore? (because it is a cheap & convenient option?)

Furthermore, a flimsy thin bag like that can't withstand much...there was once Nick & I bought sugar cane juice & I was happily poking at the wedge of lemon inside that I ended up piercing the bag and leaked sweet sugar cane juice all along the street....*frown* 
The ants would have loved that! I, on the other hand, wasn't so impressed...

The cup
The other (healthier?) option is the cup. Which I have discovered not only costs more, but it is not made for drinking on the go! In all the hawker centers (except one!) that I have bought tea/coffee to go in a cup, I get given a polystyrene cup with a lid. Not a lid with the wee drinking hole but just a lid! So if you wanna drink it, you have to physically stop, open the lid (dripped the tea/coffee everywhere), drink, replace the lid then resume walking! *frown*
 
The places who provide drinkable lids, tend to be the higher end cafes & not hawkers. Which means it'll cost more per drink but unfortunately they serve you it in a paper cup, the cup is 'hung' on something that resembles a plastic bag's handle so you can carry it, but without a cup sleeve so holding it to drink is challenging because it is hot!

Of course if I buy from big chain coffee shops I'll get my hot beverage the way I expect it to come  (coz "you get what you pay for" & all that) but my dissatisfaction comes in the fact that I can go to small 'qiong' neighborhood cafes in the UK and still get my drink in a properly insulated cup with a drinkable lid....but here in Singapore, if you desire such so-called ''high class standards'', then you've gotta go to "atas" places....*frown*

The definition of takeaway
Singapore's definition of "takeaway" doesn't appear to mean "consume on the go" (as it means to me, particularly when it comes to drinks) but it means "take to consume elsewhere".

I once bought congee in a hawker stall "to go" & found the congee poured into a bag (like that urinary bag holding my tea, but bigger in size!)
The wun tun noodles I ordered were also poured into such a bag! With the soup put into a polystyrene soup container. That's so disgusting! Imagine I was buying that intending to have a picnic somewhere! How is one supposed to eat congee & noodles out of that bag?!
(thankfully they were bought to bring to a hotel for my mum & bro, so they had to ask for bowls from the hotel staff haha! But untying those bags were a challenge too! *frown*)

Maybe this is Singapore's way of forbidding people from consuming food & drinks on public transport....or anywhere that isn't a house/staffroom/whatever!