Good news. At the launch of the grocery exchange on Jan 18, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the cost of living has gone up, with prices rising in the last two years. Over 10,000 households in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC will be able to buy cooking oil, eggs or rice for $1 under a new initiative to help residents cope with the rising cost of living. The GRC’s initiative, called MY $1 Deals, will allow households with at least one Singaporean to buy up to three coupons for $1 each. These coupons can then be used to redeem a 2.5kg pack of rice, a litre of cooking oil or a tray of 30 eggs. How much is 2.5kg of rice? It’s about 12 cups. About 1 cup per adult male per meal, it works out to be 4 days’ supply for one person. Is that stingy or generous? That depends on how gian png you are. Many people don’t even think beyond the next meal. What more the next five years? Free rice, no matter how little, can make some people dream of the rice falling from the sky.
Rice doesn’t fall from the sky, neither do pretty girls fall in love with 70-year-old uncles they’ve only “met” online.
Veteran Singapore actor Laurence Pang, 78, lost close to 1.5 million pesos (S$35,000) after he was deceived by “Mika”, a woman he met on a dating site, who led him to invest in a fake online business in the Philippines.Speaking during an episode of public service programme Raffy Tulfo In Action, Pang said he met Mika through an online dating app called Pinalove.Mika told him that she liked him and later asked Pang to invest money in a business reselling products on an online platform. The actor said he agreed as he was “won over by her charm”.
Stories like this are not uncommon amongst the uncles around me. I need to talk about a former friend of mine. About 10 years ago, he travelled to Thailand and thought he had found his second spring after his divorce. Like many Singaporean men, he was inextricably attracted to a masseuse who had apparently cured him of his shoulder pain when none of the doctors he saw in Singapore succeeded. When she said she wanted to set up her own massage parlour, he saw it as an incredibly good investment. When she asked him to buy a house in her name, he did not hesitate to borrow money from his friends to make the purchase. She told him that she had rejected the proposal from a doctor to be with him, convincing him that she was truly in love with him and no one else, no matter how much better, would do.
He was convinced that he would be able to lead a lavish life, retiring in Thailand and supported by his Thai girlfriend’s business. He also believed that he would be able to settle all debts owed to his friends in no time. As it turned out, business at the massage parlour was bad. His girlfriend’s consummate massage skills only seemed to work on him. Before long, they shuttered and not only that, she kept asking him for money to support her and the children she had with her ex-husband. It was like a joke, except that nobody laughed. His retirement dreams were shattered. After slogging for decades bringing up his own children in Singapore, he ended up retiring in Thailand, not to live like a king but with more children to support. Similar stories are repeated numerous times. Perhaps these folks should have read this story. Some uncles learn their lesson and to make themselves look less stupid, they invent a story about black magic and how a spell that had been cast on them made them do silly things. But there are also those who show no shame about squandering money borrowed from their friends. Even though I had it on record that they were just going to play santa claus in Thailand and that they would return home empty-handed and things turned out exactly as I had predicted, they are still in denial. For these folks, even reading my book won’t break the spell.
These are not real and intentional scams. From the position of the Thai girlfriend, it’s perfectly acceptable to give high hopes and raise expectations. Thais instinctively and implicitly know that such claims are not to be taken seriously. It’s all part of the game of romance. The Thai feels no guilt about lying that she has rejected a doctor’s proposal. She expects her boyfriend to take such claims with a grain of salt. It’s like putting on makeup. Both sides know it’s an illusion that spices up the dating game. Thais go one step further as they are naturally eager to please. The street smart, high rolling playboys throw money to feed their raging lust and don’t expect any commitment out of it. These folks can afford to light cigars with bank notes and they won’t bat an eyelid even their lover runs away with a house and a car. The naive Singaporean man, on the other hand, takes things too seriously and sometimes gambles with money he can ill afford to lose. These are not scams but just a clash of Singaporean naivety and Thai playful trifling. Some of these guys, while they are no doubt naive, don’t feel guilty when they are playing the game with money borrowed from relatives or friends who trust them.
Of course, culture shock aside, there are many trips, traps and scams in Thailand. Relationship issues are seldom true and deliberate scams. Neither are people who disappear into Myanmar call centres from Thailand real victims. Below is a video I did on the recent case involving Chinese actor Wang Xing.
Sadly, I’m not as influential as some other Youtubers who believe all the bullshit on douyin. I’m not surprised that netizens on 抖音are ignorant. They live in a bubble. I’m speechless when even Singaporeans believe in all that bullshit about regular tourists being abducted in Thailand to work in scam call centres. They are now afraid to travel to Thailand, thinking that the scam call centres will see them employees valuable enough for them to take the risk and the expense of abducting them. What about the 32 Indonesians who just escaped on 19 January? Why didn’t they shave their heads and come up with a story like Wang Xing’s? Maybe because their don’t have shrewd girlfriends able to collaborate their stories.
The Bangkok Post 19 January 2025
It may be true that some were tricked into the scam call centres like this Malaysian man because the advertisements seemed legitimate. He admits to participating in the scam calls and even claiming a few victims.
As such, some who have worked in these criminal operations have strong reasons to fabricate stories of abduction to clear themselves of suspicion.