Geylang Durian Scam

Durian is one of Singaporeans' favourite fruits. Many foreigners love to try it when they come over to Singapore. You can get a durian for as low as $0.50 but some may cost near a hundred dollars. Many good breed durians come from Malaysia and they are exported over to Singapore instead of being sold over their homeland due to profit and affordability.

The most famous durian stalls are located in Geylang, which is one of the night food paradises in Singapore, although the place has being polluted by many foreign female money-seekers.

On 14 January 2012, a group of Singaporeans decided to have a small durian feast at Geylang, at the stall nearest to Kallang MRT station. They were very inexperienced in choosing durians and requested the salesman to give some recommendations. The man led them to the most expensive breed in the stall known as "Mao Shan Wang". Considering that the price of $30 per kilogram was too expensive, they wanted to just get one "Mao Shan Wang", together with other cheaper ones.

When being asked for the rough weight of each "Mao Shan Wang" durian, the man told them it was just over one kilogram. The man managed to persuade them to get two of them when they thought the total weight would not exceed three kilograms, given the estimation from the man.

The man first opened one durian for one of the ladies to try, followed by the second one just to show them that its flesh was good. He offered to give them a third durian as a complimentary gift.

Finally, the man put the two opened durians on the weighing machine and quoted them $150. This meant that the total weight of the two durians were around five kilograms, which was two kilograms or 66 percent more than the estimated amount.

The group of Singaporeans were stunned by the price and decided to just buy one instead. However, the man told them that the durians were already opened and they had to pay for both of them. He also told them that they could pay by NETS.

1 The estimated weight of the durians from the experienced salesman was far too off from the actual weight - 66% was really ridiculous.

2. The group of inexperienced Singaporeans looked young and they were dressed in plain clothes after a very sweaty day. They obviously looked not-rich-enough to want to spend over $100 just for durians, which the salesman should roughly guess and advise.

3. The salesman should weigh the durians before opening both of them.

This scam incident serves as a lesson for everyone, including foreigners, that you should never trust durian sellers completely. If the prices of the durians are determined by weight instead of the normal "1 for $5", "3 for $10" or "3 for $20", you better make sure the seller weigh the durians before you agree to "test" the durian.

Of course, if you are wealthy enough and do not mind being extorted, you can take the easy way out.