Knocking back 'knock out' outside ban zone

With not a drop available throughout Little India, most who could not do without their weekend tipple seemed to have got theirs just outside the no-alcohol zone.

At least one store appeared to have gained on the edge of the zone.

Sheng Siong Supermarket on Jalan Besar reported brisk sales from foreign workers.

When The New Paper team first went there around 4pm last Sunday, its shelves were empty of Knock Out beer, which has an alcohol content of 8 per cent and is popular among the South Asian crowd.

Other popular brands like Kingfisher and Haywards 5000 were still available.

A nearby refrigerator was still fully stocked but chilled drinks cost 15 cents more than those on the shelf.

Empty Shelves

When we returned to the supermarket at 8.30pm, the shelves were yet to be re-stocked.

A cashier told TNP that there had been more foreign workers than usual buying beer.

"Because over at Tekka (where Sheng Siong also has an outlet at The Verge), they could not buy from there so they came over here," said the woman who cannot be named because she was not authorised to speak to the media.

While she could not specify how many more people had been in the store, she said: "Just look at the shelves."

Two streets away, at Maude Road, it was a different scene.

Despite being outside the alcohol-free zone, a Cheers convenience store had decided to play it safe and not sell alcohol - its beer fridges were covered with signs explaining the alcohol ban.

Get The New Paper for more stories.