Filipino fast food chain Jollibee has opened the doors of its first outlet in Singapore.

Located at Lucky Plaza on Orchard Rd, the Jollibee has seating for 300. Jollibee in Singapore is a 60-40 joint venture between Jollibee Foods Corporation’s wholly-owned subsidiary Golden Plate and Singaporean company Beeworks.

The fast food chain, known for its chicken joy and yum burgers, has 780 outlets domestically and 92 overseas.

“We are delighted to bring Jollibee and its world-class delicious food offerings to Singapore as we believe that our food will appeal to the good taste of Singaporeans,” says Tony Tan Caktiong, Jollibee’s chairman and founder.

However, the opening was surrounded in controversy after some Singaporean residents created a Facebook campaign called “Boycott Jollibee Singapore” over alleged hiring preference of Filipinos over Singaporeans.

Jollibee Singapore posted a hiring ad calling on “Jollibee fans” to join the business which meant Filipinos as most Singaporeans have not yet tried Jollibee’s food. This sparked a criticism from Singaporeans.

“Unlike other multi-national fastfood restaurants like McDonald’s and KFC which hire mainly Singaporeans and even the disabled and elderly, Jollibee Singapore intends to hire their fellow Pinoys to fill up jobs in their latest Singapore venture,” posted TR Emeritus.

However, in its press release, Jollibee said: “We have made concerted efforts to attract Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents to join our restaurant.”