Authorities Looking Into FB Livestreamer Who Sold Durians at a Cemetery During Phase One

Facebook livestream selling is akin to the bubble tea boom back in early 2000s: everyone is doing it.

Some did it so well that they’ve created a business out of it. Wang Lei is now more well-known as someone selling seafood instead of a getai host / singer; Mark Lee’s livestreaming could last for more than three hours.

Heck, did you know that people are even selling cars on Facebook livestream?

With so many livestreams, you can bet that it gets a lot more competitive to fight for eyeballs. Back in the bubble tea heydays, shops had to get girls in bikini to dance at the shopfront, and price war amongst shops in the same area was common.

So it’s no surprise that a Facebook livestream seller decides to do something different—by doing his livestream in a cemetery.

It was a rather entertaining show: he shared ghost stories that weren’t funny, he spoke about how people suddenly appeared nearby and he scolded the audience like what Wang Lei did.

Some people disapproved of his antics, thinking that he was disrespecting the dead.

And some thought that it wasn’t legal.

Well, the authorities have spoken.

But before that, some context:

Livestreaming At Lim Chu Kang Cemetery

On 17 June 2020, at about 9:30pm, a seller from Facebook Page I-deal Trades, who is allegedly 29 years old, decided to do a surprise livestream at Lim Chu Kang cemetery selling durians.

Initially, he had said that the reception in his farm was bad, which explained why he was in Lim Chu Kang cemetery to do the livestream.

But later, he admitted that it was a dare.

The one-hour-plus video feels like a Wang Lei video as people asked silly questions like what the gender of the durian is and whether the durian can wear any clothes.

Halfway through the livestream, he even saw a car, which he thought was a police car.

It turned out to be someone else in the cemetery. One can only wonder why there are people there (if they were humans, that is).

And to make it even more interesting, he even shared ghost stories (albeit rather baddy ones that are funny instead of scary).

In total, he managed to auction the 10 durians for over $600—much better than the $400 he had expected.

During its peak, there were a whopping 1,400 concurrent viewers—a record for him since his usual livestreams get about 100 concurrent viewers.

So, is this legal?

Authorities: We Know About It

Before anything, let’s look at the rules on filming.

According to IMDA, some production (i.e. filming) is allowed since Phase One, but there would be more guidelines. The guidelines have now been updated for Phase Two.

So, what’s wrong here?

Well, it’s all about the location and the durians.

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According to Wanbao, the National Environment Agency and Singapore Food Agency are aware of the video and are looking into it.

A spokesperson told Wanbao, “According to the guidelines, Choa Chu Kang Cemetery is not open to the public from 7 April to 18 June unless it’s for a funeral-related event.”

Both Choa Chu Kang Cemetery and Lim Chu Kang Cemetery are kind of the same place.

Yes, that means he could have filmed anywhere, even in a toilet, but not in a cemetery.

Also, masks are required for anyone in public. Since he is in front of the camera, he might be able to remove his mask but everyone else, according to IMDA guidelines, must put on their mask—however, the person who was with him was having his mask on his chin instead.

Now, why is the Singapore Food Agency involved then?

Simple: licence to sell food.

The question here is this: does the man have the licence to sell durian…in public?

Yes, it’s indeed a grey that would even confuse Christian Grey.

Addicted to Haunted Place

After the success of his first spooky experience, the seller then went to the Amber Beacon Tower in East Coast Park to do his next livestream.

Also known as the East Coast Yellow Tower, it’s one of the most haunted places in Singapore.

30 years ago, in 1990, a woman was killed by two assailants who were never caught. Since then, rumours have it that there would be sounds of a woman crying at night in the tower.

So what better place to do yet another livestream selling durians (again) than this popular area, right?

You can watch the entire video here:

However, unlike his first video, this didn’t do that well: the first video garnered well over 58k views and 618 Shares, while this latest one had only 8.2k views and 253 shares.

Durian Seller: Unaware of the Investigation

When Wanbao told him about NEA’s and SFA’s response, the seller said that he wasn’t aware of the investigations.

However, if he were to be charged, he would face the music.

In the meantime, lest you’re not aware, durian prices have dropped drastically in the last few days.

So maybe if you’re really in need of some durians, you can head down to a durian stall instead.

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