– Queuing for the Standard Chartered marathon.
– Queuing for limited-edition Hello Kitty dolls.
– Queuing for N95 masks.
– Queuing for iPhones.

Singaporeans are always queuing, with people even standing in line overnight, and grabbing whatever is on offer. This is something that I must admit I am sometimes guilty of, as well.

Queuing

Why do Singaporeans love to queue? Here are a few reasons why.

Being afraid to lose out

Singaporeans are afraid to lose. If they see something that everyone wants, they will try to be the first to get their hands on it, so that they “do not lose out” in front of their friends.

This is especially true in the case of queues for the N95 masks last month when the haze in Singapore was over the hazardous range (PSI of 300 and above). Even though the government had promised that there would be enough N95 masks to go around, long lines could still be seen at the local pharmacies and supermarkets, as no Singaporean wanted to lose out.

Sometimes, Singaporeans are so afraid to lose out on some goodies that we will queue up for something – even though we may have no idea what we are lining up for. As long as we see a queue, we may simply go ahead and join it, hoping to snag the freebie or the large discount that is on offer.

To show off

Sometimes, Singaporeans may join a queue, especially if the goods provided are limited edition versions, just to show off that we have this particular product.

A good example is the Hello Kitty fiasco. For those who managed to snag one of those coveted black Hello Kitty dolls, they would, no doubt, have taken pictures of themselves holding the dolls and posted these up on all their social media accounts, be it Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus – for all and sundry to see.

Copying Others

This applies especially when Singaporeans dine out at the local hawker centre or the food court. They will always flock to the stalls with the longest queue because they believe that the food at that stall is the best, compared to other ones.

Even if they have never actually heard of the stall before, they believe that if other people think something is good, then it must indeed be good. So they will simply join the queue.

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