Singapore, (Samajweekly) The sales of pineapples and pineapple cakes have shot up in Singapore after Tamil-origin presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam marched to a decisive victory last week with the fruit as his campaign symbol.
Business is booming for fruit store owners, with sales of pineapples rising by 10 to 15 per cent in August from the month before, The Straits Times reported.
In addition, eateries and bars in the city-state have been rolling out pineapple-related products and offering price discounts to celebrate the former senior minister’s presidential win on Friday.
Cafe owner Celine Ng, who would usually sell two or three of her signature charred pineapple cheesecakes each day, said she received 30 orders on Saturday for those cakes, after she had launched a one-for-one deal to commemorate Tharman’s win.
“I thought offering this promotion on pineapple cheesecake would be a fun way to celebrate his victory. I was quite surprised by the number of orders,” Celine told The Times.
Each of the charred pineapple cheesecakes cost SGD48 at Celine’s Ree and Mummy cafe.
The Casuarina Curry eatery along Upper Thomson Road is offering its pineapple and pineapple cheese prata at half price until September 9 to celebrate Tharman’s win.
“I appreciate Mr Tharman and am very fond of him. I want to show my appreciation to Singaporeans and have them celebrate this occasion over prata,” said Elango Subramaniam, the eatery owner.
At the Soi 44 bar in Prinsep Street, people who came dressed in pineapple-related attire received a tower of 1.5 litres of pineapple soju, which usually costs SG$48.
According to Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News, some fruit stores sold over a thousand pineapples daily during the campaign period.
While choosing pineapple as his campaign logo, Tharman had said it is a symbol with a lot of meaning to all the communities here.
During the hustings, he was often presented with pineapples and greeted with chants of “ong lai”, which means pineapple in Hokkien and symbolises prosperity and good fortune.
“Ong lai — it is a propitious and welcome symbol for many people — when we move into a new home, when we start a new business, when we want good luck and good things to happen, it is our future,” Tharman had said in one of his campaign speeches.
Holding up a pineapple as he greeted supporters later, Tharman said it is the perfect symbol for his campaign.
