ICYMI: Buy fish if you can’t afford chicken, President Halimah once said: Netizens point to pomfret’s pre-CNY price of $100 per kilo

Singapore — As the price of premium fish such as pomfret and red grouper soar exponentially ahead of Chinese New Year, several netizens have taken to  quoting what President Halimah Yacob said in 2007 as a Member of Parliament.

Back then, as Parliament was about to debate the high cost of living, The Straits Times reported that two MPs tabled questions about fast-rising food prices hurting Singaporeans’ wallets. The price of wheat was at global historic highs due to drought in Australia and crop failures in the US. This pushed up the cost of animal feed and meat.

Madam Halimah, who was a Jurong GRC MP then, said that more could be done to promote alternative food sources.

“For example, the price of chicken may be rising fast, but we can encourage Singaporeans to turn to alternative sources of protein, such as fish”, she told The Straits Times.

Citing this today, netizens wonder what other alternative sources to turn to.

The Straits TImes reported on Jan 26 that it had visited six wet markets that day and found that Chinese pomfret was selling for as much as $90 to $100 per kilo, up from $40 to $50 last November. Red grouper was priced at up to $75 a kilo, when it cost $30 to $40 for the same in November”.

Floods in Malaysia, a major supplier of fish and other foods  to Singapore, was hit by extraordinary floods last month, while demand for many popular kinds of fish has ballooned ahead of  Chinese New Year.

Several netizens who commented on the post joked that Madam Halimah might have been referring to canned fish instead of fresh.