Clash of the Giants…

OK .. to put things into perspective. For those who do not know where I stay, I live on an island known to all as the small red dot. This red dot, is famous for its variety of good food. There are things like the chicken rice, the curry fish head, satay, mee soto, roti john, roti prata … just to name a few. This is an island where people live to eat rather than eat to live … but that is a tale for another time.

The story I am telling today is about a small town somewhere on the east of this little red dot .. and this small town is call Bedok.

Long time ago, Bedok was a very peaceful town run by only 1 war lord. This War lord runs under a red, blue and white banner and is termed NTUC for short. This war lord has absolute control over the supply of food and grocery of the people staying in Bedok.

Not long after, another war lord can to vie for space and control. This war lord runs a orange and red banner and is call Emporium.. This warlord gains some grounds at first. However, it failed to notice the change in technology and the taste of the people and thus he died a natural death.

Over the years, other warlords with different banners, came and went, each trying to wrestle a piece of the territory from NTUC. Among which was Green and yellow Giant, Yellow and Green save and shop, etc. Save and shop was almost down and out … but he consolidated his strength and came back carrying a MacDonald’s color banner. He has been trying to save guard his land since.

Recently all hell broke loose when a super strong warlord who loves to sing broke into the scene. People flocked to him and called him affectionately as Sing Song. Now this warlord is competing with NTUC head on. The prices offered are extremely competitive and thus NTUC is bleeding and loosing territory every day.

Because both Sing Song and NTUC are fighting for the same dollar in my wallet, I did the most “uncle” thing I could do. I compiled a list of all the items that I would normally buy and went around checking prices from Sing Song and NTUC.

Trouble came when an NTUC auntie employee caught me inputting prices into my list. She came over and told me “I know where you are from. You cannot do that. Please note that taking down prices are strictly prohibited. You can use any methods but taking down of prices are strictly prohibited.”

I was literally at a lost of words … never in my 30 years of shopping had anyone told me that I cannot take down prices to make comparison … Oh my God .. where is my consumer rights and freedom? Can someone enlighten me if comparing prices at super markets is allowed?