So I have this group of uncle friends—all late 40s to early 50s—who basically treat Syed Alwi Road like their second home. Every weekend without fail, and sometimes even on random weeknights after work, they will jio me to go drink at those old-school pubs around that area.
Now, I don’t mind having a beer or two to unwind, but I almost never join this specific group. Why? Because these uncles don’t just drink—within 15 minutes of sitting down, out come the cards and the cash.
And I’m not talking about subtle, under-the-table play where you discreetly slide a $10 note under a coaster. No lah, these guys play like they’re hosting the World Series of Poker at Genting! They literally spread out stacks of $50 and $100 notes right on top of the pub table, completely exposed, directly under the pub’s glaring lights.
Every time they sent photos in our WhatsApp group chat urging me to come down, all I could see was a full display of SGD cash sitting right next to their beer buckets. My immediate thought was always: “Bro, you all sibei high profile, later mata come then you know.”
Whenever I casually told them to at least keep the cash out of sight or stop flexing on the table, they just laughed me off and called me kiasi. They were super confident, saying things like “Pub owner is our bro lah, nobody will report one” and “Singapore pub so safe, who so bo liao to care?”
So I kept my distance. My gut instinct kept telling me this was an absolute disaster waiting to happen.
Fast forward to about a month ago. I was catching up with another circle of mutual friends, and the topic of these Syed Alwi uncles came up. My friend suddenly went, “Eh, you heard what happened to Uncle Beng and the gang?”
Turns out, my exact prediction came true. Police raided the joint, and guess who got caught red-handed with stacks of cash displayed loud and proud on the table? Yep, my brilliant uncle group. No time to sweep the money into their bags, no time to hide—nothing. The cash was sitting right there like an open buffet for the authorities.
I almost choked on my drink when I heard. Truly LEVEL 999 IQ plays right there. What did they honestly expect? You play illegal card games with bright pink and blue cash openly displayed in a public pub in Singapore, and you think you’re operating on 100% stealth mode?
Honestly, thank God I trusted my instincts and never joined them for drinks. Imagine just sitting there casually drinking an innocent Heineken, and then getting swept up into the police station together with them just by association because you were at the same table. Really dodged a massive bullet!