Other than allowing you to be a lazy bastard at home, the coronavirus has changed our lives for the worse.
Lives have been lost, businesses have crumbled, and socialising is now a distant dream.
But, as crazy as it sounds, the Covid-19 pandemic may have had a positive impact on some people’s lives.
How?
By making them richer.
People Allegedly Saved Up Too Much Due to S’pore Pools Closure So they Redeemed Their Jewellery from Pawnbrokers
Pawnbrokers around the country have been noticing something strange lately.
More and more customers are going to pawnshops to redeem their gold jewellery rather than pawning their items for cash.
Considering that pawnshops stayed open during the circuit breaker to help those with financial needs, this is a little puzzling.
Speaking to The New Paper, Mr Ivan Ho, president of the Singapore Pawnbrokers’ Association, said that the number of people redeeming their items is now about 10 to 15% more than that of those pawning their valuables.
More than half of Mr Ho’s customers at Heng Seng Pawnshop are now redeeming their pawned items.
But why?
Is it because McDonald’s closed for nearly a month?
Is it because bubble tea stores have been closed for a seeming eternity, which prevents people from buying their daily 12 cups?
Maybe.
But Mr Ho has another explanation: the closure of gambling outlets.
“It could be because Singapore Pools has shut, and so some people have found themselves with extra cash from not placing their usual bets,” he said.
In case you don’t know, local betting outlets have shuttered during the circuit breaker period, because throwing away free money is not an essential activity during a pandemic.
So, by saving all the money that they would have lost on bets, some people have found themselves a little richer than they anticipated.
But that may not be the only reason.
Government Payouts & Rising Gold Prices
One elderly Singaporean man who spoke to TNP said he used the $600 he received from the Solidarity Budget last month to redeem his gold jewellery.
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Conversely, Singapore University of Social Sciences economist Walter Theseira speculated that it could be due to a perception of the value of gold during a crisis:
“They could think gold prices will go up or gold will be more valuable than cash in a crisis,” he said.
“People in financially tight circumstances sometimes keep cash low as a deliberate strategy, because having too much either encourages spending by themselves, or spending by others who know about it.”
Eating More Home-Cooked Food?
There may be one other possible reason: our inability to eat outside.
It’s no secret that Singaporeans love to dine out, with an NEA survey last year showing that 85% of residents eat out at least once a week, with roughly one in 10 of them eating out every day.
And since food deliveries are more expensive than eating out, many would turn to home cooking, unless they were Bill Gates.
Whatever the reason, having more cash at such a precarious time can really help ease any financial anxieties one might have.
Maybe this will encourage us to gamble less and eat more healthy home-cooked food once the circuit breaker ends?
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