Shortly after the Singapore authorities raised the DORSCON alert level to orange, Singaporeans scrambled to stockpile on daily essentials.
And it got really bad, really fast.
Even trying to buy via the Fairprice website resulted in an error.
Which my colleague presumed to be server overload.
Minister of Trade and Information (MTI) Chan Chun Sing had to come out and ask Singaporeans not to hoard daily essentials.
Fairprice has to assure Singaporeans that they do have enough for everybody, and ask for people not to go crazy.
Please keep calm and don’t hoard items; be considerate as there might be people who need it more.
And in the middle of all these happenings?
Videos Showing Off Stockpiles Surfaces Online
In the first video, a lady could be heard introducing her “goodies”.
She was very proud of herself and called this room her “minimart”.
And in the second video, dozens of cans of abalones were neatly arranged on the shelves.
There are also stacks of toiletries, boxes of tissue papers and rolls of toilet papers.
Cans of beers can be spotted in the video too.
FairPrice: We Have Enough For Everybody
Nobody knows why Singaporeans are going crazy fighting over daily essentials.
We have two theories: either they’re really afraid that Singapore will run out of toilet paper or they’re Carousell resellers.
But if you’re the former, NTUC has something to say to you:
FairPrice is able to supply enough daily essentials for everyone.
According to NTUC Fairprice’s CEO, “There are available stocks in our warehouses and we are looking to send them to our stores expeditiously.”
They said they “employ an ongoing strategy of source diversification, working with suppliers from multiple countries, to ensure the community has a stable supply of daily essentials at affordable prices.”
In other words, they have enough toilet paper even if you’re using it on your dog when it poops. Probably.
Unfortunately, as of today, people are still hoarding.
And some even left baskets of goods on the ground after they saw that the queue was too long.
They probably thought they’re at their grandfather’s house.
