It is Friday morning at Kallang Estate Market - a morning that seems like any other - except boxes marked in red can be seen on the floor all around the market.
The queue boxes, which are being drawn up in all 83 wet markets operated by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and its appointed operators, serve to keep patrons at least 1m apart from one another. They are the latest safe distancing measures rolled out by NEA as part of efforts to stem community spread of the coronavirus in Singapore.
As of yesterday evening, queue boxes have been marked out at 40 wet markets islandwide.
NEA urged the public to do their marketing during off-peak periods, such as on weekdays, or early in the mornings on weekends. The elderly have also been advised to stay at home and to have someone do the shopping on their behalf.
When The Straits Times visited Kallang Estate Market, dozens of shoppers - many of them elderly - were seen milling around the stalls.
The exterior of the market is visibly more spacious and most shoppers here kept a distance from one another while queueing.
However, along the handful of narrow lanes between stalls within the market, people rubbed shoulders with one another frequently, and there was barely any semblance of a queue in place, especially at what appeared to be more popular stalls. Hardly anyone stood inside the box when making their purchases.
Mrs Jolene Teng, 50, who runs a fish stall at the market together with her husband Stephen Teng, said in Mandarin that she had urged patrons to keep a distance, but her advice fell on deaf ears.
"Everyone wants to get their hands on the best produce. If all of them want to rush to get the fish they want, there's no way to stop or control them."
She added that the placement of the queue box at a corner of her stall also "did not make sense" as customers would not be able to reach for everything.
Other stallholders echoed the couple's concerns.
Housewife Chua Ee Sin, 60, approved of the measures, however.
She said: "The boxes are good because they give you a clearer guideline as to where to stand or queue, compared with lines."
But maintaining a distance of 1m was difficult, she added.
NEA will begin a trial today at Serangoon Garden Market to monitor the entry and exit points of the market to prevent overcrowding. The agency said the trial might be extended to other markets, depending on its effectiveness.
