If you’ve thought that Singaporeans panic-buying is a thing of the past, think again.
On 16 Mar 2020, Malaysia announced a nationwide lockdown starting 18 Mar 2020.
Shortly after, Minister of Trade and Industry (MTI) Chan Chun Sing came out to assure people that Singapore will still have adequate supplies, mainly because we’re not just importing from Malaysia.
Unfortunately, Singaporeans still swarmed the supermarkets.
Well, if you’re still worried and wondering if your leave will be approved for tomorrow so you can go to Fairprice to hoard, Minister Chan has more words to say.
Words that’ll probably get him elected into the Prime Minister of Singapore.
“We Have Months’ Worth Of Stockpile Leh”
Our Minister Kee Chiu came out on 17 Mar 2020 to say that Singapore has “months’ worth of supplies on a national level as a backup.
Which isn’t surprising considering that schemes like the Rice Stockpile Scheme exist.
He revealed that Singapore still has:
- 3 months’ worth of carbohydrates (e.g. rice and noodles)
- More than 2 months’ worth of protein (a combination of fresh, frozen and canned options)
- More than 2 months’ worth of vegetables (a combination of fresh, frozen and canned options)
- More than enough eggs can be brought in via air-freight or produced locally
When you compare that to the duration of the lockdown for Malaysia (18 to 31 Mar), it’s practically overkill.
But he has more to say.
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We’ve Been Planning For Years
Given how Malaysia has the nasty habit of surprising Singapore (think back to the water supply shut off), it’s logical to think that Malaysia could’ve done the same thing with our food and supply sources.
Well, it seems like it’s not just us common people thinking like this, the government has been thinking along the same line too.
Minister Chan added that they’ve been planning and implementing “strategies” to manage a disruption of supply from Malaysia for years.
“Let me first say that a disruption of supplies from Malaysia is one of the contingency scenarios that we have planned for over the many years.”
Some ways include:
- Stockpiling
- Ramping up local production
- Diversifying import sources.
For example, just take a look at SFA’s chart for Singapore’s sources of food:
Malaysia’s only a tiny part of our entire supply chain.
Stockpiling and ramping up of local production will give Singapore precious time to source out for alternate supply sources.
Human Lockdown =/= Supply Chain Disruption
Right now, he reveals, Singapore is in contact with Malaysian authorities to iron out the details.
But he wanted Singaporeans to understand one thing:
Travel restrictions against humans do not mean there’ll be restrictions against items.
Which is logical because I’m still receiving my Shopee purchase from China.
It’s Important That S’poreans Remain Calm
Minister Chan Chun Sing recently starred in a leaked audio where he made suggestive comments to Singaporeans.
One of which was how Singaporeans who panic-buy made Singapore xia-suay (ashamed).
Of course, he’s not just talking about “face” or “pride”. He’s talking about the fact that when Singaporeans panic-buy, it lowers Singapore’s standing and makes it harder for Singapore to negotiate for prices or supply at the national level.
Just to put it in layman’s terms: if a seller sees that you’re desperately in need of supplies, he’ll charge you more because you can’t say no. Just like Jover Chew.
And if that’s not enough to convince you, panic-buying will completely devastate the supplies of any countries, no matter whether you’ve stockpiled for months or years.
Not we say one, it’s a minister who said it.
So keep calm and tell everyone you know not to panic buy, okay?
Or you might just end up like those people who hoarded in the first round of panic buying and were left with expiring items.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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