Pokemon hunt is on

In the past week, strange things have been happening in Singapore.

People are gathering in parks and playgrounds till the wee hours.

Complete strangers chat, warmly and excitedly, like old friends. And cars are going very, very slowly.

Welcome to Singapore post-Pokemon Go, a sweeter or more annoying place, depending on where you stand on the Poke-divide.

If you have not caught on, Pokemon Go is the hottest game to sweep the globe, including Singapore.

In the free-to-play augmented reality game, players use their mobile device's GPS capability to hunt, capture, battle and train virtual creatures called Pokemon, who appear on the screen as if they are in the same real world location as the players.

The Pokemon game has been around for 20 years and played on other devices such as Game Boy and Nintendo DS, but what is new about this latest version, developed and published by American software development firm Niantic, is its use of real-world locations, so users have to go to real-life locations to play.

This is why so many Singaporeans have hit the streets and are bonding with other PokeFans who are complete strangers.

Sociology undergraduate Tan Eng Teck, 26, was chatting with a fellow player he had just met in Bishan Park on National Day when a rare Pokemon, Arcanine, appeared on his radar.

The problem was, the creature was in Ang Mo Kio, which was more than 1km away.

His new friend offered: "Actually, we can drive there, you want to try?'"

In the heat of the moment, Mr Tan said yes and jumped into the guy's car. Unfortunately for them, the Pokemon disappeared by the time they got there, leaving them one Pokemon poorer, but one friend richer.

Odd, risky and, occasionally, stalker-ish behaviour is the new normal. In the past week, players have spilled onto the streets, ventured into parks and gathered in the heartland, turning previously quiet areas into social hubs.

Some people do not go about on foot, but cruise very slowly in cars.

At Yishun Park, hundreds of Pokemon hunters gather daily, with many of them playing well into the night,due to the unusually high concentration of PokeStops there - more than 50 within walking distance of one another.

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For the uninitiated, PokeStops, which are often linked to landmarks such as statues and fountains, give players free items to catch or attract Pokemon.

They are also popular locations for players to lay lures, which increase their chances of catching rare Pokemon.

Last Thursday, more than 300 people were scattered across the 13.9ha park, squeezing onto benches and sitting on the ground. Some brought portable stools to sit on.

One of the players was housewife Agnes Tay, 59, who was persuaded by her three daughters to try to "catch 'em all". Her entire family is hooked on the game and on the eve of National Day, the family of five stayed out till 3am at Yishun Park.

Another Yishun Park player is Mr Phoon Chee Keong, 36, an advertising agency creative director who was playing the game with his parents, sister, wife and one-year-old daughter.

He says: "I've lived in Yishun for five years and have never seen crowds like this here. It's refreshing to see young people out and about, instead of cooped up at home."

To put things in perspective, Pokemon Go players in Singapore are pretty well-behaved compared with some cities overseas, where fanatic players have been caught trespassing or getting into accidents.

But hundreds of people gathering in parks and housing estates over a game is still an unprecedented sight in Singapore.

There were some reported cases of players getting a little too invested in the game at the expense of personal safety.

Last Wednesday night, the appearance of a rare Pokemon - a Snorlax - in Punggol Park caused players to run across a road without checking for oncoming cars, causing drivers to jam their brakes.

This was captured in several videos uploaded onto YouTube and also reported in The New Paper.

Enterprising individuals have been quick to cash in on the craze. Some have set up stalls selling drinks and snacks in parks, while others have advertised their driving services to ferry players around the island to catch Pokemon.

For those who do not play, the inconsiderate behaviour of some Pokemon fans can be infuriating.

These players do not watch where they are going, leave litter at PokeStops or park illegally by the roadside near hot spots.

Littering has been a problem at Block 401 in Hougang Avenue 10, which has become a hub for hundreds of players, thanks to four PokeStops nearby as well as ready access to food and drink at a coffee shop there.

Over the past week, hundreds of people have squeezed into an outdoor playground there every night, sitting on the ground or leaning on the slides.

Hougang resident Lee Kok Keong, 59, a retired drinks stall owner, says that while the players have kept noise levels down, they have been leaving rubbish in the common areas, including plastic bags, drink bottles and food packets.

Retiree and Pokemon player Ee Cho Yong, 62, exercises at the fitness area near Yishun Park in the morning and occasionally checks his app to play Pokemon Go. But the place has become too crowded for him to work out.

"Players are hogging the sit-up benches, so I can't do my exercise," he says.

Housewife Maria Tan, 48, who lives in Bishan, was amused to see the number of people on the street looking at their phones rather than watching where they were going.

"They stand at the pavement and block the way, which is very annoying. Sometimes, they suddenly stop in front of you and you bump into them," she says. No one in her immediate family plays the game.

While excitement over Pokemon Go remains high, experts say the frenzy may die down once the novelty wears off.

Associate Professor Dion Goh from the Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information says: "Angry Birds and Candy Crush were massively popular, but players lost interest and moved on to other games."

Hop on to the Pokemon bus

The Pokemon Go craze has spun off a thriving cottage industry in Singapore.

Power banks are flying off the shelves. Transport companies are offering new services to ferry players from place to place to catch all the virtual creatures.

Businesses are trying to get players to come to their stores by releasing lures. In Pokemon-speak, lures attract Pokemon to a PokeStop for 30 minutes.

They can be obtained when players reach a higher level and can also be bought using in-game currency. Malls, retailers, eateries, resorts and even an onsen and a dentist are buying lures to attract Pokemon, which in turn attract customers.

Dentist Darrin Cho, 43, has been releasing lures every day at a location 10m away from his clinic at The Rail Mall in Upper Bukit Timah since Monday.

He says: "I am not trying to attract footfall like the malls. I am just trying to make the wait at my clinic more bearable and pleasant for my patients."

The response so far has been good, he adds. "Many patients say they enjoy catching the Pokemon while waiting to see me."

Yunomori Onsen and Spa at Kallang Wave Mall has also been releasing lures, with its spokesman saying this is a "good branding and awareness platform" for visitors to know about the onsen, which is located in a quiet corner of the mall.

Lures have also been released at the newly opened Soi 51 Mookata stall in a coffee shop at Boon Lay Place, which serves Thai barbecue steamboat buffet.

Mr Derrick Wong, 35, executive director of Soi 51 Holdings, which runs another two stalls in Geylang and Yishun, was responding to requests from diners.

With the lures, he says, "customers can take their time to eat the buffet while playing Pokemon Go".

Events assistant Lee Yew Joe, 24, for example, has been eating at the stall every night with his friends since the lures were released.

He says: "I usually eat at home. But since the game's release, I have been eating out every day. I like that the boss here actually encourages us to play by putting lures all night and letting us dine here until 3am."

Other businesses that have released lures include Resorts World Sentosa, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Ion Orchard and City Square Mall, as well as Singapore telcos Singtel, StarHub and M1.

Mr Bernard Ang, head of youth segment at StarHub, says: "Deploying lures is a fun way for us to show we are hospitable. Trainers can also rest their tired feet and use the available phone-charging points at our shops."

Assistant professor of marketing Hannah Chang, 35, from Singapore Management University, whose research interests include consumer behaviour, says capitalising on the Pokemon Go craze allows businesses to attract potential consumers and build brand awareness.

She adds: "But it is up to businesses to turn the human traffic into paying customers."

Adjunct associate professor Lynda Wee, 52, from the Nanyang Business School, who lectures in retail management, says retailers selling products such as food, drinks and powerbanks are most likely to benefit as these cater to Pokemon Go players on the go.

Indeed, sales of power banks at IT retail chain Challenger Technologies have more than doubled, compared with the same month last year.

Sales of power banks at mobile marketplace Shopee have also tripled since the game's release.

Pokemon Go-related transport services, launched earlier this week, are also seeing customers. A Pokemon Go drivers service launched by ServisHero, a mobile app for finding services in Singapore such as cleaners and plumbers, for example, has completed more than 100Pokemon journeys.

Most customers use the service - which costs $25 to $40 an hour for a car with a driver - for one or two hours.

ServisHero's country manager for Singapore, Mr Daniel Thong, 28, says: "The demand has been very encouraging. In Singapore, the weather is often hot and may not be ideal for long periods of walking. Catching Pokemon in the comfort of a car may be a more enjoyable experience."

One of the drivers, Mr David Loh, 40, who has driven eight groups of Pokemon Go players, says: "The challenge is to stay safe at all times because I get sudden requests to stop or slow down, which is hard to do if you are in the middle of traffic."

Transport company GTS Express also introduced a service last Friday, which drives customers in a 13-seater mini-bus three times along a 10-minute route in Hougang lined with more than 20 PokeStops.

The service starts and ends at Block 401 Hougang Avenue 10, reportedly a hot spot for rare Pokemon.

At least eight people signed up for the service on Friday, which costs $4 a person and includes a bottle of mineral water.

Mr Shane Wee, 26, a technical analyst at a consulting firm, gives the bus service the thumbs up. "I can collect Poke Balls in air-conditioned comfort instead of walking from PokeStop to PokeStop."

lesterh@sph.com.sg, janlee@sph.com.sg, racheloh@sph.com.sg

Additional reporting by Benson Ang

This article was first published on August 14, 2016.
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