You’re in a group and you’re trying to decide where to go for lunch. Or you’re trying to figure out who should get that last dumpling on the plate. Need a vote? Forget the ballot! If you were a kid growing up in Singapore, you would have a paperless way of coming to a consensus. This sophisticated mechanism is called oh-peh-som.

How would this voting behaviour play out? yg explains:

in ‘oh peh som’, the palm and the back of the hand come into play. participants begin by placing one hand – usually the right hand – behind their back. they will stand in a circle or a semi-circle. anyone of them or all of them can shout out ‘oh peh som’. at ‘som’, they have to bring the hidden hand to the front showing either the palm or the back of the hand.

It might sound childish now, but I think oh-pey-som is a much easier decision-making mechanism than a coin toss. Use it for your lunch break today! (And read more on yg’s oh-peh-som post here.)