This complaint about a tissue packet might be the most Singaporean thing you see this year

If only there’s something that can truly showcase the Singaporean facet of being puritanically penny-pinching. Something that reveals just how tremendously cheap and calculative some of us can be. 

Ah, here’s one. Naturally, we found it on a Singaporean boomer-frequented portal on Facebook: the Complaint Singapore page. 

A fastidious Facebook user who goes by the name of Raven Qiu felt the need to share online about how he felt utterly grifted by the NTUC FairPrice supermarket chain. How so? Why, none other than the felony of only having seven sheets of wipes — instead of the explicitly stated 10 — in a house-brand packet of facial tissues. 

Judging from Raven’s tone, this pretty much should be considered a serious crime. “Be careful… what you buy (at a) discounted price, (you) might be getting short-changed as well,” he concluded in his now-viral video. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/raven.qiu/videos/3224300004276834/[/embed]

It’s unclear how he knew there’d be seven sheets of tissue in the unopened packet, and it’s even more dubious if he knows that packaging errors exist in this dimension. Truly, if he went on a year-long investigation and discovered an unnatural population of wrongly-quantified FairPrice tissue packets, Raven would actually have some merit to his grievances. 

In fact, when we opened up a packet of FairPrice facial tissues ourselves, the quantity is as stated. 

While some were shook at Raven’s revelation, others tried to, you know, provide some reason and logic. 

FairPrice responds

FairPrice got wind of the clip and in a statement sent to AsiaOne, assured that they’re taking the issue very seriously. 

“Checks on existing batches did not reveal any abnormalities and we have not received any similar feedback,” wrote a FairPrice spokesperson, adding that the video uploader should contact the chain directly to assist in its investigations. 

“We would like to take this opportunity to encourage the public not to make inflammatory remarks or circulate unfounded or unverified information, which may cause unnecessary public alarm. We also urge the public to be mindful of information spread on social media and online platforms, and encourage all to verify information directly with the source when in doubt.” 

Consumers are welcome to clarify any doubts through FairPrice’s customer relations hotline (6552 2722), email (general.feedback@fairprice.com.sg) or the company’s Facebook page. 
 

ilyas@asiaone.com