Neil Humphreys calls $6.10 for bread and eggs 'ridiculously expensive', rants about being asked to speak for free

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Author calls $6.10 for bread and eggs 'ridiculously expensive', rants about being asked to speak for free​

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Su Mann Ong​

Posted on 24 January 2025 09:47 am | 2,126 views | 10 comments

He is one of Singapore’s bestselling authors.

Yet even Neil Humphreys is lamenting the high cost of living.

The London-born Singapore resident posted on Facebook on Jan 24: “Today, I bought the cheapest wholemeal loaf of bread at Fair Price ($2.40) and cheapish eggs ($3.70)

“That's $6.10 for the most basic essentials, which I think is ridiculously expensive and highlights Singapore's very real cost of living issues.

“Why am I telling you this? Because on the same day, I was asked to give (several) author’s talks for FREE, yet again presuming I'm just flattered to be asked. I'm not.”

From there, the writer of The Notes From An Even Smaller Island and dozens of other books launched into a rant about how Singapore doesn’t value creative people and their work.

“We still don't 'value' the arts/literature/media enough, not really, not enough to pay for a speaker's expertise in some instances,” said Humphreys in his post.

“This is a serious problem for Singapore. In a country obsessed with attaching a monetary value to every physical object (homes, cars, watches and handbags etc), we struggle with something 'intangible' like an artistic work or - something even more intangible - intellectual property.”

He talked about piracy, artificial intelligence and his dad.

“My father was a plumber. He fixed a leak. He got paid… Why must it be any different (for me)?” asked the author.

“I spend time away from family to prepare a talk, lecture or workshop, I get paid, like every other writer, artist or trained expert in Singapore.”

He then sort of answered his own question.

“Ah, they're only authors or artists,” said Humphreys.

“They'll work for nothing. But the lawyers and doctors in private practice? Ooh no, they have to be paid by the minute (and good luck to em!)”

He concluded: “If you are employed, in any capacity, in the education, arts, literature or media industries, you either champion the art or the artist or you don't.

“You either believe that their experience and expertise are worth paying for, or you don't. And if you don't, why are you even asking?

“Right, I'm off for an egg sandwich.”