Durian lovers flock to Sheng Siong in Bedok
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People queueing for durians outside Sheng Siong's Bedok Central store yesterday. Some had travelled from as far away as Sengkang and Hougang to get a good deal on the spiked fruits. Many of them had seen the supermarket's Facebook post on Wednesday that advertised durians from as low as $2 per fruit.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Cha Hae Won
Long queues formed outside the Sheng Siong branch in Bedok Central on Thursday and yesterday as the durian season kicked off in full force.
When The Straits Times visited Sheng Siong's Bedok Central branch at 4pm, many of those in the queue said they were looking forward to tucking into a durian treat with their loved ones.
Many of them had seen the supermarket's Facebook post on Wednesday that advertised durians from as low as $2 per fruit.
Some had travelled from as far away as Sengkang and Hougang to get a good deal on the spiked fruits.
Right before 5pm, ST counted about 60 people in the queue.
Customers told ST they were attracted by the low prices: deals included three small durians for $20 and three large ones for $40.
A 90-minute wait netted Bedok resident and Grab delivery rider Edwin Lin, 39, three large fruits for his family.
Operations manager Azhar Nadeem, 32, said that he and his wife had queued for nearly 30 minutes to reach the halfway point.
He said: "Since we live in Bedok, we decided to come down to buy around six small durians, since we love the taste of durians."
Retired sales manager K.K. Ng, 55, who lives in Tampines, left with six durians. "It has been nearly seven months since we had durians. My daughter, who is in primary school, is having her June holidays, and I thought that it would be nice to take her with me to buy three big and three small durians for our family."
Brisk sales led to Sheng Siong employees stopping the queue at 5pm yesterday. A worker told ST that the stall's closing time was supposed to be at 8pm.
Arriving 20 minutes too late, Ms Salmah Mahmood said: "I'm so disappointed. I thought I could buy durians for my grandchildren.
"I will make sure to come at an earlier time next time," added the 56-year-old housewife.
Seven Sheng Siong employees were seen managing the long queues to ensure people were adhering to safe distancing protocols.
Mr Arman Mohd Ali, 54, who made the trip from Hougang and works in operations, said he was surprised by the large number of people in the queue but was not too worried about Covid-19 transmission as he had received his second dose of the vaccine on June 11.
Eight of the nine people ST spoke to said they had received at least one dose of vaccine.
Sengkang resident Katherine Lee, 54, who spent an hour queueing with her husband, said she had taken her second Covid-19 jab in mid-May, but noted that vaccinations do not guarantee immunity.
"What is more important is that we must follow social distancing rules," the sales manager said. "While queueing, I made sure to be more than 1m apart from the customer in front of and behind me."
