Comment: Swatch & Audemars Piguet Royal Pop launch in S'pore draws foreign workers as proxy queuers. Free market forces at work?

The Swatch and Audemars Piguet Royal Pop watches were dropped in Singapore on May 16.

The latest products are once again the result of a collaboration between Swiss watchmakers Swatch and luxury timepiece maker Audemars Piguet.

Thousands of people had to queue overnight outside of Swatch stores in Singapore and around the world to get their hands on the products.

There were easily hundreds of people in line at each shop in Singapore way before the shops allowed customers in.

What was in demand?

The watches in high demand come in eight unique colourways with two variants.

The one with its crown at the 12 o’clock position cost S$535, and another with its crown at the three o’clock position cost S$570.

As of now, the resale value of the watches ranges from S$1,000 to S$4,000 per piece.

Each person could buy one watch from each shop.

Proxy queuers

Locally, the launch drew foreign workers, some of whom acted as proxy queuers.

They were spotted in the long lines at the Swatch shops at ION Orchard and Marina Bay Sands (MBS).

These two outlets were the selected stores that sold the watches, after Swatch’s branch at VivoCity was closed due to the “overwhelming crowd”.

Observation

When I visited MBS the night before the sale, I spoke to some in the queue about the watch and their views on the crowds.

But the interview got turned on its head fast.

One of those in line, whom I spoke to, asked me instead: “What are your opinions on employers sending their migrant workers down to queue for them?”

Although perplexed by his question, I did not respond directly as I was still compiling footage and quotes at the scene.

I then headed to ION at about 10:30pm.

At the time, the crowd was less organised.

Speaking to some in the queue, they also noted the same observation about foreign workers queuing.

Returned to investigate

The picture was clearer when I headed back to ION at about 4:45am.

Most of the crowds were asleep and had quietened down by this time.

I proceeded to speak to some of those who were unable to queue, who continued to observe the scene.

One of those was Zuhair, who had spoken to those in line on his own.

He noted that some of the queuers were migrant workers.

They were allegedly sent to secure the watch on their employers' behalf.

He added that the migrant workers who were sent to the queue were apparently unaware of the value of the watches, but they would be paid S$100 if they secured them.

“We should not blame the migrant workers,” he said.

Zuhair subsequently shared his observations on Instagram.

I attempted to speak to one of the migrant workers, but he refused to be interviewed when approached.

Not all were tasked by employers

But some of those foreign workers had actively sought out the opportunity to be a proxy queuer on their own.

Rusky Ahmad, 22, apparently found out about the chance to make some money through channels, such as Telegram, Facebook or word of mouth, The Straits Times reported.

Ahmad was told he needed to buy the watch to receive payment of around S$150 to S$200 for his queueing service.

He was eventually unable to buy a watch and did not receive payment.

Money talks

Later in the morning, I spoke to a “middleman”.

These were people who intended to buy from the queuers and resell the products.

One of them, a 22-year-old who wanted to remain anonymous, said he found out that some of the foreign workers were paid S$15 per hour to be in line.

When asked if it was ethical, he said it was dependent on how much the workers were paid for their service.

“It depends on how you view money,” he said.

The middleman claimed he intended to pay an upfront price of about S$1,000 for the watch on the spot.

It was a tantalising offer.

The art of the deal

The middleman apparently was able to make a deal with one of the foreign workers, who was supposedly to be paid S$200 to queue and secure the watch.

The worker managed to purchase the Royal Pop, which came in a pink case, a yellow body with a striking Tiffany blue crown.

The middleman offered him stacks of S$100 notes, which the foreign worker accepted.

When I asked the worker how much he made, he was ecstatic and claimed he made about S$500 in profit.

He also added that he was willing to do it again for the money.

What likely happened

Here’s how it probably worked for the foreign worker: He sold the watch to the middleman on the spot, as he could make more profit as compared to queuing for whoever was to pay for his services of queuing and buying the watch.

The foreign worker likely told the person who asked him to queue that he failed to secure the watch.

Legal? Ethical?

According to the Ministry of Manpower, work permit holders must comply with working only for the employer and in the occupation and sector specified in their work permit.

They are also generally not allowed to take on additional jobs or engage in activities to earn additional income in Singapore.

But it appears that what is happening on the ground is a highly grey area.

Foreign workers in line could very well be buying the product for their own consumption, it could be argued.

There's nothing to stop them from wanting to own a Swatch & Audemars Piguet Royal Pop.

Or giving it up eventually.

After all, they did spend time queuing up for it.

While some may view this practice as an exploitation of migrant workers, others argue that it ultimately comes down to how the financial incentive affects personal choice.