It’s a Steal, It’s a Deal, It’s the Sale of The Century

Something disturbed me today. Went for a coffee at Emerald Hill, at the place right at the bottom of the hill. It is a nice covered restaurant, and if I am not wrong, is part of the same group that owns Rouge and Alley Bar. All are decent places, even if they are more expensive versions of the bars that are just up the road - No. 5, Ice Cold Beer and Que Pasa.

And more expensive for good reason too, since they are better decorated and more recently refurbished than their competitors. The group has a membership called the Black Card, which costs $300 and has its privileges. You get a couple of bottles upon joining and then it's always 15% off. I cannot remember the exact deal.

But the promotional sign I saw outside this little eatery was just shocking. It showed the details of some drink promotion. It was the normal thing, 1 for 1, 3 for $25, half-off- the actual schematics of it is unimportant, it was the run-of-the-mill kind of deal.

Except that it said that expats* would get an additional 15% off. The fine print on that statement was that expats were defined as those with work permits. So it is not overt racism on a technicality, because there are work permit holders from many different countries. Smart legal person, whoever works for the group.

And smart marketing person as well. Trying to create a place that is expat friendly is generally good business in Singapore. The club Attica has used this to great effect. They have a subtle (depending on who you ask) policy of being more friendly to expats. It's small things, like skipping to the front of the line or not paying for entry into the disco. Those small perks are relatively cool ones to have if you have ever tried queuing up to get into an empty club.

I do think it is safe to assume that in Singapore, as in many places in Southeast Asia, expat generally connotes Westerner. The phenomenon of the Indian or Chinese expat is too new to have created that kind of instinctive stereotype.

The Anti-Defamation League defines racism as the hatred of one person by another -- or the belief that another person is less than human -- because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. In light of that kind of broader definition, there is a lot more insidiousness to this little extra discount.

Why are expats given a larger discounts? Are they strapped for cash? Would one really have to get out one’s work permit to qualify for the discount?

Becoming known as an expat hangout has some advantages other than purely monetary ones. Most importantly, it makes it easier for SPGs to more narrowly target their choice of nightspots.

That’s where it ends really. There is just something strange about making a place better for expats. Does it propagate some form of inferiority complex amongst Singaporeans? I wonder whether the restaurant is Singaporean-owned.

Whatever it is, I hope that a bunch of Malaysians on work permits just take over the scene.