AS THE markets see-sawed between sheer panic and cautious optimism this week, the shoppers formed a steady queue at Ang Mo Kio budget shop Best Target.

To the beat of Mandarin pop, they sieved through Pocky biscuit sticks going for $1 a pack, tubes of Toblerone chocolate at $1.40, and woven floor mats at 80 cents.

The mood was infectious to say the least, but no one knows how long the buying will go on. Several traders of low-end goods The Straits Times spoke to said they did not know what to expect, but none were losing sleep over the financial turmoil.

The crisis is something beyond our control, they say.

“I can still sleep at night. I don’t owe anyone money,” said the furniture shop owner Eddy Tan.

With the memory of the 1997 Asian financial crisis fresh on their minds, they seem determined to avoid the bloodletting that occured in the previous round.

The businessmen were holding on their existing staff even if it meant gritting their teeth for one or two years.

In the meantime, they hope that hard work, longer operating hours and giving better service will pull them through.

If they concentrate on the little things, they say, the big picture will take care of itself.

They hope.