We are a family of four and we live in Singapore. Singapore is not the most expensive place to live just for expatriates. Last Sunday, we decided to eat-out at a Sushi outlet that serves dishes on a conveyor belt. It is shocking to see how prices have escalated. A plate of sushi (two pieces of a strip of salmon over a lump of rice cost $6.90 + GST). That is $7.40 a plate. When we were in Japan last year, we ate at Hamazushi. They charge 105yen per plate for lunch. That’s only $1.30 per plate all-u-can eat. Isn’t Japan supposed to be more expensive since their per capital income, salaries and rents are higher?
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Not too long ago a whole Gardenia bread cost $1.40. Now a small bun barely the size of your palm cost $1.60. A bowl of Yong Tau Foo (a small serving of noodles with a few pieces tau foo and some mince meat) cost $4.80. I wish I had taken a picture. It had just a teaspoon of mince meat. If you are in HK, order a bowl of noodles from Tai Kar Lok. For the same price, they serve twice the amount of noodles with chunks of Char Siew according to weight (not that one piece of Char Siew sliced thinly into 6 pieces to make it look good). A tiny chocolate cup cake cost $3.50. We are just not getting value for what we pay.
Surely material costs could not have pushed prices up so much. It’s labour,rental AND pure greed! The bulk of a food outlet staff is low-paid. With the government pushing wages up for them, what will this do to food prices? It only give retailers the excuse to raise prices. Prices are sustained by those who are willing and foolish enough to pay and there are plenty of them. They are not driven by those who cannot afford them.
When property prices go up, so will rentals. REITs and companies outbid competitors, then raise rentals. They bid high for food courts because they know however high they bid, they can recover the cost from the consumer through higher rental. For the high prices they pay for property, investors want a reasonable return on their investment. Stall rentals escalate and stall holders sting on their servings to survive. We the consumers suffer. I say, keep the property curbs and let property prices fall. Don’t listen to the REITs and those with vested interests who speak only for their own interests.
Today, we see well-educated, university graduates going into food business. Is this our new generation of entrepreneurs? What a waste of resources to put someone through law school only to see him go into food business after graduation. What experience and entrepreneur skills do they have? Other than food business, what other notable ventures here or overseas have our young entrepreneurs gone into? These young entrepreneurs want to make it big but they lacked the values and patience. Our old aunty and uncle stall holders are satisfied to make just enough for their basic needs. Our new entrepreneurs? They want immediate success to buy a big condo or own a landed property within a short time.
When crude oil prices drop, did the oil companies act to lower posted pump prices? Do we have to demand for it before they do it? In the US, pump prices changes from day to day. In Singapore, oil companies maintain the posted price but offer discounts to certain credit card holders. Are they not colluding with card companies to form a cartel instead of offering lower prices to all consumers? Is there not a tacit understanding with the government that we do not walk the streets with placards to voice our complains and the government will take care of such things for us?
Shouldn’t the government re-examine the premises for its policies and make protection of consumer interest a priority. Maybe the focus should not be just raising low wages but checking greed and controlling escalating prices.
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Not too long ago a whole Gardenia bread cost $1.40. Now a small bun barely the size of your palm cost $1.60. A bowl of Yong Tau Foo (a small serving of noodles with a few pieces tau foo and some mince meat) cost $4.80. I wish I had taken a picture. It had just a teaspoon of mince meat. If you are in HK, order a bowl of noodles from Tai Kar Lok. For the same price, they serve twice the amount of noodles with chunks of Char Siew according to weight (not that one piece of Char Siew sliced thinly into 6 pieces to make it look good). A tiny chocolate cup cake cost $3.50. We are just not getting value for what we pay.
Surely material costs could not have pushed prices up so much. It’s labour,rental AND pure greed! The bulk of a food outlet staff is low-paid. With the government pushing wages up for them, what will this do to food prices? It only give retailers the excuse to raise prices. Prices are sustained by those who are willing and foolish enough to pay and there are plenty of them. They are not driven by those who cannot afford them.
When property prices go up, so will rentals. REITs and companies outbid competitors, then raise rentals. They bid high for food courts because they know however high they bid, they can recover the cost from the consumer through higher rental. For the high prices they pay for property, investors want a reasonable return on their investment. Stall rentals escalate and stall holders sting on their servings to survive. We the consumers suffer. I say, keep the property curbs and let property prices fall. Don’t listen to the REITs and those with vested interests who speak only for their own interests.
Today, we see well-educated, university graduates going into food business. Is this our new generation of entrepreneurs? What a waste of resources to put someone through law school only to see him go into food business after graduation. What experience and entrepreneur skills do they have? Other than food business, what other notable ventures here or overseas have our young entrepreneurs gone into? These young entrepreneurs want to make it big but they lacked the values and patience. Our old aunty and uncle stall holders are satisfied to make just enough for their basic needs. Our new entrepreneurs? They want immediate success to buy a big condo or own a landed property within a short time.
When crude oil prices drop, did the oil companies act to lower posted pump prices? Do we have to demand for it before they do it? In the US, pump prices changes from day to day. In Singapore, oil companies maintain the posted price but offer discounts to certain credit card holders. Are they not colluding with card companies to form a cartel instead of offering lower prices to all consumers? Is there not a tacit understanding with the government that we do not walk the streets with placards to voice our complains and the government will take care of such things for us?
Shouldn’t the government re-examine the premises for its policies and make protection of consumer interest a priority. Maybe the focus should not be just raising low wages but checking greed and controlling escalating prices.
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