This article originally appeared on Vulcan Post.
As the freebies keep coming, the true Singaporean spirit shows through in the attempts to earn a quick buck off of them. After the SG50 lego set, the SEA Games volunteer freebies, and SG50 NDP tickets went live on online marketplace Carousell, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the SG50 funpacks have gone on Carousell as well.
While previous years’ funpacks are also being sold on Carousell, this year’s situation is a little different. After all, nearly 1.2 million Singaporean and permanent resident households will be getting a pack of goodies and Singapore-themed memorabilia, which are usually reserved for those who attend the National Day Parade. The funpacks even come in 6 different designs, which shows the amount of effort that went into this sack of stuff compared to other years (remember the Funpack song from a couple of years back?).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkg4sct0-Js
So despite almost every household in Singapore receiving a funpack, it seems that the people selling them really don’t enjoy the pack at all. Some Singaporeans on social media have even stepped up to say that they’re disappointed with the funpack’s contents, while others chide them for looking a gift horse in the mouth — or as they say it here: “free one still complain”.
What makes this even sadder is that each funpack — all 1 million of them — will be hand-packed by 1,000 people on a daily basis, packing up to 120,000 funpacks every day. Not sure how they will feel about seeing their efforts getting sold on Carousell for $5.
We’re sure these are not going to be the only few funpacks we see on Carousell. The truth is, Carousell is an authentic glimpse into the underbelly of Singapore’s value system. As much as the older generations value freebies (if free must take), the truth is that Singaporeans still prefer cash above all else. And nothing, not even sentimentality and patriotism, can get in the way of that.
I don’t think that’s something we can blame Singaporeans for.