TikToker buys from elderly vendor with no customers, netizen says it should be normalized

SINGAPORE: A TikToker gained attention when she decided to purchase handmade beaded crafts from an elderly woman who struggles to attract customers at the Toa Payoh Central pasar malam.

The video posted by Jasmine Ng has a caption stating: “POV: Only buying from Vendors with No Customer at the Pasarmalam,” and it has gone viral with more than 112k views and more than 8k likes as of writing.

In the video, Ms Ng was seen interviewing the elderly woman in Mandarin, specifically about how she makes the beaded crafts and how Ms Ng admires her craftsmanship.

When interviewed by Stomp, Ms Ng admitted that she got the video idea from “farmers market videos” overseas and that she wanted to do a Singaporean version of it to inspire others to do the same.

Furthermore, the 25-year-old declared: “Honestly, elderly people are one of my soft spots… I can’t stand seeing them looking sad or trying so hard to set up their booths and wait for customers. They’re just trying to earn a simple living, and we should help if we can.”

She added, “It’s really hot there, and you can see how much effort they put in. Sometimes the food prices seem high, but they’re not earning much because the rental is high. You always see them sweating… It’s heartbreaking.

Kindness for the elderly vendor

“If we can, we should always try to support them, even just a little,” she concluded.

Aside from the elderly woman who sells handmade beaded crafts, Ms Ng also visited a vendor selling collectable banknotes.

With this, netizens expressed their thoughts and opinions in the comments section of Ms Ng’s videos. One commenter stated that this behaviour should be normalised, which gained a response from Ms Ng saying: “Yesss! I hope everyone will get inspo to do so 🥺!”

Another netizen said: “Awww I absolutely love people who make the arts and crafts! Everything handmade is so beautiful.. Thank you for supporting her 🥹❤️”

One more comment remarked that she should keep doing such things.

A netizen also observed that the elderly woman was shy at first but started showing her friendly side when she was complimented.

“Love this! tbh I don’t usually go to the non-food sections of pasar malam but I’ll keep a lookout now thanks to this :)”, a netizen shared.