PUBLISHED ONMarch 09, 2023 4:35 AMByChing Shi JieWhen Sengkang Grand Mall opened its doors to visitors on Monday (March 6), its FairPrice Finest outlet rolled out several store-only promotions.
One customer recently shared about how she had fun buying a 'mystery' bag of groceries there, only to have others question if the supermarket chain had breached gambling laws here.
Taking to TikTok on Wednesday, user Syfiplanning gave her take on whether the bag, which she paid $19.90 for, was "worth it".
According to FairPrice, each mystery bag, limited to 100 pieces in Sengkang Grand Mall store, is "filled with items worth more than $40".
"While stocks last. Limited to one bag per customer," the supermarket stated on their website.
And it seems Syfiplanning is pleased with her purchase after stating the prices of the assorted snacks in her mystery bag were worth more than $40.
Some of the snacks included cookies and chips.
"Total price $46.50. Worth it," the customer quipped.
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@syfiplanning/video/7207830504366689544?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7161994054723814913[/embed]
Several netizens in the comments found the mystery bag intriguing, while others questioned if the items might be close to their expiry date.
"Not really. About three months to one year left," Syfiplanning said.
Several netizens raised their concerns on whether the mystery bags sold are illegal.
"Didn't police intervene with the mystery box vending machines due to it being a form of gambling? This has got to be the same thing," a netizen said.
"Well, I just bought it for fun. Don't want to comment further," Syfiplanning replied.
Meanwhile, a netizen pointed out that the mystery bags sold at FairPrice are not a form of gambling - or a game of chance - when customers can just open the bags to inspect the items inside.
Speaking to AsiaOne on Thursday (March 9), Kulvinder Kaur from IRB Law shared that FairPrice's mystery bag is not a form of public lottery.
"There's no game of chance, since FairPrice has specified that the value of the bag is more than $40," the lawyer said.
"It is also reasonable to assume that the items in the bag are sold by FairPrice anyway on their shelves. So they are therefore not really 'unknown'."
Clarifying on their mystery bags sold at Sengkang Grand Mall, FairPrice told AsiaOne that there's no "game of chance " since the content of every bag was the same.
"Customers could also open the bag to have a look and evaluate if the items were of sufficient value before deciding whether to purchase one," its spokesperson said.
In 2018, merchants operating vending machines dispensing mystery items were told by the police to stop operating them as they were deemed a form of public lottery
"As this is a form of public lottery, it is an offence under Section 5(a) of the Common Gaming Houses Act," the police said then. .
And last September, a police report was made against a retailer who offered parcels containing "mystery" items for $6.
In videos posted on The Auction House's Facebook page, bargain hunters can be seen snapping up parcels which were said to include household items and tech gadgets.
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