Singapore makes desperate dash for final haircuts and bubble tea. Here are the queues you missed. (Photos)

People queue for hair cuts, at left, and bubble tea, at right. Photos: Singapore Road Accidents, Chee Hong Chan/Facebook
People queue for hair cuts, at left, and bubble tea, at right. Photos: Singapore Road Accidents, Chee Hong Chan/Facebook

Singaporeans last night scrambled to buy bubble tea and get haircuts before the shops were forced to close at midnight. 

A number of food and drink shops, including dessert shops and beverage-only stores, were taken off the list of essential services along with hairdressing and will no longer be allowed to operate under measures which have been extended until June. 

Under yesterday’s revised orders, affected stores had until midnight to operate. Hours after the prime minister announced the news, long queues formed outside bubble tea stores and hairdressers across the country, photos of which surfaced online. 

Gong Cha, Liho, and Playmade were just some of the bubble tea stores ambushed by customers and food delivery riders last night in Bedok and Punggol.

Crowd outside a Gong Cha outlet. Photo: Chee Hong Chan/Facebook
Crowd outside a Gong Cha outlet. Photo: Chee Hong Chan/Facebook
Crowd outside a Xing Fu Tang outlet. Photo: Sebastian Ian/Facebook
Crowd outside a Xing Fu Tang outlet. Photo: Sebastian Ian/Facebook
Long queue of Koi bubble tea customers snaking outside Bedok Mall. Photo: Singapore Atrium Sale/Facebook
Long queue of Koi bubble tea customers snaking outside Bedok Mall. Photo: Singapore Atrium Sale/Facebook
Crowd made up of queues for various bubble tea and dessert stores. Photo: Andrew Lim/Facebook
Crowd made up of queues for various bubble tea and dessert stores. Photo: Andrew Lim/Facebook
GrabFood delivery riders outside a Gong Cha outlet. Photo: All Singapore Stuff/Facebook
GrabFood delivery riders outside a Gong Cha outlet. Photo: All Singapore Stuff/Facebook
Arms of a Liho bubble tea staff covered with order receipts last night. Photo: All Singapore Stuff/Facebook
Arms of a Liho bubble tea staff covered with order receipts last night. Photo: All Singapore Stuff/Facebook

At one point, the situation got tense outside the Playmade bubble tea store at Punggol’s Waterway Point shopping mall when an argument broke out between a GrabFood deliveryman and the bubble tea staff. 

Videos showed the deliveryman telling the bubble tea staff to come out of the store, accusing the latter of calling him a “fucker.”

Meanwhile, those needing final haircuts mostly queued outside the late-night salons on Geylang Road.

Queue outside Bazaar Hair Salon. Photo: Singapore Atrium Sale/Facebook
Queue outside Bazaar Hair Salon. Photo: Singapore Atrium Sale/Facebook

Related: 

Singapore extends COVID-19 lockdown until June 1




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