If you haven’t been living under a rock recently, you’d have read about how one extremely daring Canadian citizen named David James Roach carried out a bank robbery in Singapore without even needing to flash a weapon or use any form of aggression. For the unenlightened, our perpetrator had visited a Standard Chartered bank and handed the teller a note informing her to cough up the money – S$30k in total going by media reports. Six hours later, our Ocean’s Eleven wannabe was already in Bangkok, presumably about to celebrate with all smiles in the land of smiles. Well, someone obviously forgot to tell Mr Roach how efficient and effective Singapore is when it comes to money (I mean, just look at our ERP system and how you can’t escape payment or risk being fined). Within a matter of days, our dear Singapore Police Force had identified the suspect and gotten our Thai counterparts to apprehend him. My gut tells me that Mr Roach will soon be sampling Changi Prison grub instead of tum yum goong.

The point is, crime doesn’t pay, especially in strict Singapore. There may be a minority who get away scot-free, but by and large, there are safer ways to make money. Like hunting for discount codes online on your favourite apparel brands. Or bringing along plastic bags to all-you-can-eat buffets for your own “takeaway” (if you’re shameless enough to do so, of course). Or perhaps shopping only during sales season. Which brings me to how there’s a lot of value to be found with some of our Aries Gold post-GSS buys, available at any H2 Hub outlet island-wide. $40 here, $50 there, and your savings might just add up. Sure, it’s not going to net you $30k in cold hard cash, but you’ll still have the freedom to down your favourite drink at bars, instead of spending a couple of years behind them. Until next week, that’s some food for thought. Cheers!

-The Watchman