It’s one thing to have fun.
It’s quite another to have fun, illegally.
On Saturday night (30 March), five teenagers took it upon themselves to partake in the IKEA challenge, in which the goal is to hide in an IKEA store before closing time and stay there until the next day.
Having chosen IKEA Tampines as their designated area, the teens entered the building before 11:00 p.m. (closing time) and concealed themselves, where they were eventually discovered by officers from Bedok Police Division.
They were subsequently arrested for wilfully trespassing.
‘Ratted out’
According to The New Paper, five teenagers, aged between 16 and 18, were discovered in the rugs department of IKEA Tampines in the early hours of Sunday (31 March). Apparently, they had entered the building before its closing time of 11 p.m. and hid themselves to avoid detection. Though as it turns out, physical concealment might not be the most important.
A tendency to keep your phones away might be the most important instead.
After one of the teenagers began chronicling his exploits on social media, members of the public reportedly started to notify the police. An IKEA spokesman revealed that the police were alerted by the viewers at 12:50 a.m. and officers from Bedok Police Division turned up at the store at 1:20 a.m.
Security boost
According to Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao, the police and IKEA’s security team combed the store, locating the boys in around half an hour in the rugs section. Fortunately, no property was damaged and there was no stealing involved in the incident.
However, IKEA has stated that it will be stepping up security to stop copycats.
The security boost will be to ensure that safety’s meted out at all times, as the outlet supports warehouse operations and heavy equipment.
“IKEA is a fun destination for many people and we love to give fans a great day out but an unsanctioned sleepover is simply not safe, given the warehouse operations and heavy equipment in our building. The safety of people in our store is our top priority,” said the spokesman.
Additionally, the IKEA spokesman has stated an intention to write to the police investigative branch to appeal for leniency.
Now that’s why we love IKEA – not only are they a nice restaurant, they even care for people who could have stolen their stuff. Kudos to them!
The Ikea Challenge
For those interested in the challenge’s origins, the IKEA Challenge was apparently started by two Belgian teenagers, dating all the way back to July 2016.
The reception by the stores in question, however, was less than complimentary.
Can’t blame them either. Would you like people to sneak into your house and have a sleepover in the night?
I don’t think so.
If you watch at least 10 minutes of brain rot content daily, you must know this:
Read Also:
- 62YO Woman Allegedly Put Dozens of Expired Products in 2 FairPrice Outlets
- There Are Now 1 Million Vehicles in S’pore, a Record High
- It Turns Out That There Are Free Payphones Around S’pore
- US Probing Whether DeepSeek Got “Banned” Nvidia Chips Through S’pore
- Everything About Punggol Coast Mall, a New Mall That’s Opening in March
- Dragon Puppet Hit By Moving Ceiling Fan in Sin Ming Restaurant, Injuring Diners
Advertisements
