Knowing what people would do, Carousell is moderating all listings of bubble tea on their site

Knowing what people would do, Carousell is moderating all listings of bubble tea on their site
PHOTO: The Straits Times; Carousell screengrab

In his fourth address to the nation about the coronavirus situation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered the grim but necessary news that the circuit breaker would have to be extended till June

But the communique that folks got even more concerned about is this: bubble tea stores will shut down till then. 

Singaporeans reacted the way they were typically expected to. Before the temporary closures kicked in at 11.59pm last night (April 21), various outlets selling the milky, sugary beverage across the island were hammered by immense orders and long queues. It got intense, that’s what we’re trying to say. 

It wasn’t long before scalpers and opportunists started popping up online to take advantage of the mad rush for bubble tea. 

Having seen this coming from a mile away, Carousell made the decision to step in and regulate all the ridiculous listings of bubble tea on the online marketplace. 

“For your safety, we’ll be moderating and may remove listings related to [bubble tea outlet] closures,” the company said on its Instagram page.

"We love bubble tea just as much as you do… but it’s not available in stores and we’re seeing to it that it isn’t resold on our platform either."

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Pzip3Hywl/[/embed]

Sure enough, you can’t find any of the absurd bubble tea-related posts anymore. You can, however, find vendors selling homemade tapioca pearls to make your own custom bubble tea at home, which is entirely possible

Some Singaporeans are using bubble tea as their defining identity, and that was certainly clear from the madness that ensued into the wee hours of the morning today. But perhaps we shouldn’t be poking fun at them — it could be their last grip on normalcy as the circuit breaker continues for another five more weeks. 

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

ilyas@asiaone.com

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