“I’d like to go to Singapore to look around and not just because of this goalkeeper,” said China football team fan and university student Mike Yeung, 24, of Guangdong province. “I’ve never been before. It’s quite convenient with the payment platforms.”
Chinese football fans flooded social media with praise and adulation for the goalie after hard-fought matches on Tuesday night. Despite losing 1-0 to South Korea in the Seoul World Cup Stadium, China made it through to the next round in the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifiers because Thailand failed to beat Singapore at home by three goals.
WeChat Pay, one of China’s two dominant mobile-payment services, announced on Wednesday that its transactions at Hassan’s stall – which sells Muslim food such as nasi padang, sometimes referred to as Padang rice – saw a tenfold surge over Tuesday’s total. It would not disclose the number of transactions or amount of money spent.
Tencent, the developer of WeChat Pay, has offered overseas use of the platform since 2015 and now processes payments in 69 countries.
China’s mobile-payment services took off in Southeast Asia not just by tapping a market without large rivals, but also because of the steady flow of Chinese visitors with the apps on their phones.
The Chinese services also reached Southeast Asia as people there were getting wealthier and their countries started digitising more, according to the news website FinanceAsia.
To develop a “super app” like those from China “requires a rare combination of local market insight, long-term focus [and] deep pockets”, financial industry research firm Kapronasia said in a May 15 research note.
A company representative said WeChat Pay connects to Singapore’s standardised QR code that reaches merchants throughout the city, including smaller restaurants. Hassan’s popular coconut rice goes for S$4.30 (US$3.19) per serving.
On Wednesday, the restaurant filled with Chinese tourists, according to a Douyin video posted by a Singapore-based Chinese influencer who goes by “Leileihao_”. The video picked up 40,000 likes and nearly 6,000 comments.
At one point, Hassan’s scan code was so heavily used that banks suspended it for payments, according to domestic news reports in China.
Visa-free schemes do simplify travel planning for many, encouraging spontaneity and flexibility in travels
Available airline capacity figures and passenger load data for China-Singapore flights so far this month do not reflect a surge in Chinese visits to the Southeast Asian city state, said Mayur Patel, the Asia head for industry data platform OAG Aviation.
But after the Singapore-Thailand match, “a lot of Chinese football fans have indicated that they would like to go to [Hassan’s] coconut-rice restaurant and check in”, Chinese news outlet Yicai reported on Tuesday.
Singapore tourism officials say Chinese visitors led a 15.3 per cent year-on-year increase in May arrivals from abroad, which totalled 1.28 million.
“Visa-free schemes do simplify travel planning for many, encouraging spontaneity and flexibility in travels,” said Heron Lim, assistant director and economist with Moody’s Analytics in Singapore.
“We have seen that across Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, where Chinese tourism arrivals have improved in the wake of visa-free travel implementations.”
Additional reporting by He Huifeng