Update:
First and foremost, my sincere apology to the Malay lady who was shown lining up with 7 trolleys in the photo which I have posted about the Sheng Siong supermarket on my Facebook yesterday.
I am sorry for any negative feelings or comments against her resulting from the posting. It is never my intention to shame anyone in my post and it is definitely not my intention to dismiss such charitable person.
It is also definitely NOT a racist post at all, aiming to target any race or religion. Those who know me well, would know that together with my Muslim buddies, I have invited both Muslim and non-Muslim friends to attend our annual Ramadan breakast sessions since 2010. I have full appreciation of Ramadan and had learned quite a lot about Islam and the importance of Ramadan from my Muslim brothers. Unfortunately, for this year, we will have to miss our annual Ramadan breakfast with our friends due to Coronavirus threats.
I understood very well that it is a practice for those more wealthy Muslims to share food or perform charitable acts during Ramadan as an appreciation of God's grace. I actually like such practice of charity by our Muslim friends during Ramadan very much.
However, my very concern this year is more about the Coronavirus and its health, social and economic implications.
Almost whole Singapore is in the flux of panic buying due to the quasi lockdown caused by the coronavirus. It is sad to note that despite of promoting Total Defence for decades, our people's psychological state of mind is rather fragile.
An act of simple charity of bulk buying lots of food items to be given to the poor under current circumstances, may just end up giving the wrong impression or misunderstanding to those who witness it.
Regardless of race, anyone who is seen pushing 7 trolleys to the payment counter would inevitably invite unwanted stares and even result in wrong perception and skepticism. Worse, it may even create more panic buying of herd mentality.
If I, Goh Meng Seng, walked into Sheng Siong and buy 7 full trolleys of food items tomorrow, I bet you will see my photos with that 7 trolleys all over the social media immediately.
There will be people mocking, scolding or even become panic and come to the conclusion that there must be something serious happening amd they would start to follow me to buy 10 trolleys of food items!
Well, nobody will be bothered why I bought so much food items, even if I tell them its for charity. Maybe in normal times, they will believe and go around praising me but in the current circumstances and context, it will only invite panic and sneers.
Having said that, it doesn't mean we will stop doing charity at all.
There are other ways to continue our charitable act without causing unnecessary alarm.
1) Give Cash Vouchers for grocery purchase in supermarkets to the recipients
2) Order online from various platform and send the delivery directly to the various recipients' address
3) Make private arrangements from different suppliers or vendors to deliver the food items
Any other methods that will not cause or aggravate the panic level.
In my last video, I have said that we should take the opportunity to look out for each other Singaporean during this period of quasi lockdown, share our resources, in particular food , with each other.
Thus I am actually happy that there are people preparing for sharing food with others during this coming Ramadan.
But I would urge my Muslim friends to be mindful of the crisis we are facing as well. The last thing we would want to see is to invoke unnecessary emotional responses out of misunderstanding or misperception.
Last but not least, I would urge supermarkets like Sheng Siong to follow NTUC in making necessary rationing restrictions on food items. This is because we are going into a critical period of the crisis which needs to ensure food supply doesn't suffer demand shocks that may Crack our social fabric.
Although I am in mourning period, but when I saw the photos sent to me and the narrative that comes together with the photos, I felt strongly about the issue here.
These photos were taken at a Sheng Song supermarket. It is apparent that Sheng Song didn't impose rationing for the purchase of daily necessities.
This family bought a total of SEVEN trolleys of groceries and food items in one shot. Nobody stopped them or even confronted them. Typical Singaporeans do not dare to voice out in public, only stood there with their staring.
The family noticed the unfriendly stares, started to "explain" why they are buying so many groceries and food items. These are items to be distributed to the poor and needy.
I will give them the benefit of doubt because Ramadan is just round the corner and it is not uncommon for more well off families to donate food items to the poor.
However, Ramadan is more than two weeks away and I don't think the eggs could last that long.
Even if that is true, this is a very sensitive period and such purchase will either create more panic buy or misunderstanding resulting in anger.
The family could have just given cash or cash vouchers directly to the needy families to make their own purchases instead.
I urge Sheng Song and other supermarkets to impose rationing restrictions on the purchases of food items during this period so to help to prevent irrational hoarding during this sensitive period.
Last edited:
