I have to be careful in writing this chapter after recent news of Singaporean bloggers jailed for blogging materials that are racisim in nature. I doubt if any Singaporeans will be stupid enough to openly admit anything that may get them in jail.

There I was in the mall 298 looking for blank CDs, I observed couple of shops selling pirated software. The setup is as such. As you walk into the shop, you will be greeted by rows of empty plastic packages displaying software titles. You will be encouraged to seek assistence from the shop assistances – teenages – because the shop space is small and you will be kicked out of the shop if you spend too much time blocking other potential customers.

The shop assistances seems to be very well versed on the software and upon making your selection, he or she will write the software code onto a piece of small blue square paper and ask you to pay outside the shop.

So, carrying the small blue piece of shopping list, you will meet with a middle aged man who speak Mandarin. You pass him the money and he will make a phone call, make some writing onto your piece of paper, and ask you to come back in half an hour’s time.

From time to time, you will see a delivery boy carrying a bag full of pirated software all packed nicely with tag numbers. I did a fast count and I reckon they earn HKD5,000 to 10,000 (S$1,000 to S$2,000) for each 15 to 30 minutes.

Now, if they don’t have the software you are asking for, you will be given a piece of white paper with the shop assistance’s phone number and he will ask you to come back tomorrow. Of course you could demand your money back but these are gangsters.

And as the business continues, the middle aged man who collects cash, places orders, and distribute packages will periodically pass the cash back to one of the shop assistances. Just imagine how much cash he would hold had he not off-load the money.

Four hours to year 2006!