Image: Reddit Singapore screengrab / @Mondrayish

S’poreans react to Decathlon tents, calling them “affordable homes” with ‘probably more space than BTO bedrooms’

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans are reacting to Decathlon tents, jokingly calling them “affordable homes.” Surprisingly, many took to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts on the public housing situation in Singapore, with many even making satirical references to the actual state of BTO flats in the country.

An online user took to an online news forum on Tuesday (March 28) to share a photo of tents pitched outside a Decathlon store. Decathlon is a sports goods retailer that has branches in many countries around the world.

The post was jokingly captioned as an article, with the heading saying, “Decathlon launches new affordable homes at a price point that locals can afford.” The post drew the attention of many who played along with the joke, which referred to a real issue in Singapore–the prices of public housing.

“Probably more space than in majority of BTO bedrooms,” wrote one, while another asked, “Can CPF loan?”

Still, others made satirical comments, hinting at possibly having to process permits and calculate living costs.

“If enough of us choose to live in tents, we can crash the entire housing market,” said one. Another replied, “If enough choose to live in tents, I bet a COE for tents would be implemented. We need to be entitled!”

“Whilst this is satire, in reality, any place you put the ‘home’ is considered illegal squatting,” wrote one commenter, who gave others a bit of a reality check. “You can’t even camp long-term in national parks in the designated camping areas as you need a permit and NParks generally does not issue permits for long periods. So this ‘home’ is still not affordable as you theoretically need to ‘pay’ or rent the land you pitch your tent on.”

Still, another wrote, “As if people can afford those tents. So expensive.”