$5.50 chicken rice meal is expensive, a diner complains, but others tell him the price is actually reasonable, even cheap

SINGAPORE: After a diner who paid $5.50 took to social media to complain that his dish of chicken rice was expensive, many others told him that this price was not unreasonable at these times. Some told him that it was actually cheap.

On the Complaint Singapore page on Wednesday (Dec 11), the diner posted a photo of a meal consisting of chicken, rice, slices of tofu, clear broth, and cucumber pieces.

“$5.50 for this. Expensive? The cost of living in Singapore is really getting out of hand!” he wrote.

A number of commenters on his post, however, wrote that the price for the dish actually seemed reasonable or even cheap and pointed out that the portions of the meal are quite substantial.

One pointed out that the meal he ordered had tofu as an additional viand, normally costing between $0.70 and $1. Another wrote that the diner may have even ordered extra rice, given the large portion in the photo. “Seems fair, la,” a netizen remarked.

A more blunt commenter wrote, “It is considered very, very cheap… if this is called expensive, then cook yourself.”

“$5.50 expensive? Honestly and honest question… have you been living under a rock for the past 10 years?” another asked. One chimed in to say that $5.50 is still “ok,” but if the price had been $6.50, that would have made it expensive.

A commenter wrote that a plate of chicken rice at the food court near his office already costs $9, while another wrote that the meal was not only “a good deal” but also “looks delicious.”

Another even asked where the post author bought the meal, while others asked what price he felt would be appropriate.

One wrote that this meal would cost $25 in Australia, while another chimed in to say he paid “close to S$30 for exactly the same thing in Doha, Qatar.”

“We in Malaysia pay 10 to 14 ringgit for chicken rice only. So don’t complain lah,” wrote another.

One commenter wrote that at the market, raw chicken already costs over $12. Additionally, cooking costs, water, rice, other ingredients, manpower, rent, and other costs must also be factored in.

According to data from the CEIC, the price per plate of chicken rice in October 2024 was $4.20, based on the Singapore Department of Statistics. This means that with the addition of the tofu slices to the meal, the price the diner paid is not far from this. /TISG

Read also: $6.80 chicken rice is “very expensive” — Diner upset with her meal “portion so small that it looks like it should be only $2”