In a stretch along the Toa Payoh MRT underpass, queues have been appearing quite consistently.

a major impetus for that has been the intense demand for masks, and the even more intense demands for cheap masks.

Which saw massive queues outside the Value Dollar Store (Fire sale) which presumably had rather affordable prices.

A picture however appears to have captured the moment when two keen motivations for Singaporeans appear to have intersected.

On the left, a snaking line extends out from Fairprice, while the other appears to curl into the Value Dollar store.

In many ways, the concurrent stream of fear and hope we go through in our everyday life.

Some online comments took the juxtaposition a step further by pointing out that one line desperately wished to "kena", while the other was doing their best to avoid a lucky strike.

Here's what the left side appears to be lining up for.

When a Mothership reader went down later that afternoon to check on the queue though, the lines had begun to see a notable difference.

Here's the line that won.

Hope, specifically hope in S$12 million, always wins.

Image from Mothership reader and Olivia/FB