Beauty queen and athlete Michelle Gumabao was taken aback during her recent trip to Singapore when she encountered a local beggar who had gone digital.
On April 5, Michelle tweeted about her experience, sharing that when she informed the beggar that she had no cash on hand to give, the beggar presented her with a barcode.
“May nanlimos dito sa SG, sabi ko sorry no cash. Pinakitaan ako ng barcode,” she wrote, accompanied by a fearful emoji.
May nanlimos dito sa SG, sabi ko sorry no cash. Pinakitaan ako ng barcode 😨
— Michele I. Gumabao (@gumabaomichele) April 5, 2023
Michelle’s tweet has since gone viral, garnering over 373,000 views and 3,840 likes.
While beggars using QR codes to solicit monetary donations is not new in Asian countries like China and India, it was a first for Michelle.
In a related thread, a netizen claiming to have been a Singapore resident for 13 years shared that beggars wearing presentable clothes and using bar and QR codes to request money are a fairly common practice in the country.
The netizen also hypothesized that the barcode shown to Michelle may have been from a local mobile wallet service, though they personally had not encountered such a thing.
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Despite Michelle’s shock during her encounter, her followers were quick to comment on her post, with some even applauding the “level up” in the beggar’s tactics.
