SINGAPORE: A coffee shop stall next to Tiong Bahru Plaza allegedly sells bottled mineral water for $1.80. Finding the price steep, one of their customers took to the popular Facebook group ‘Complaint Singapore’ on Friday (Aug 9) to voice his concerns.
In the post, Mr Citizen Lester wrote: “This coffeeshop next to Tiong Bahru plaza is no longer affordable anymore. A mineral water cost $1.80. Stalls have exited probably due to non viability of sustaining the business.”
In the comments section, netizens echoed Mr Lester’s concerns, expressing frustration over the increasing prices at coffee shops and hawker centres across Singapore.
One netizen vented, “These stall owners are getting bolder thinking customers have no other options if need to get a drink. Some even disallow eat-in customer from bringing their own mineral water. I’ll totally avoid the coffeeshop! My fav kopi-C kosong even cost $1.60 at some places.”
“These days many hawkers resort to not only keep increasing prices but also cut back on quantity and ingredients. Double whammy! I’ve kept a list of sharings here and avoid these hawkers.”
Another asked, “Why pay $1.80 to drink so-called mineral water ? We have been drinking PUB water since NS days in the early 1970s including annual reservists trainings. And I m continuing doing so till today.”
A third netizen pointed out, “Cost of this mineral water is only 0.20 to 0.30 cents.”
However, some netizens shifted the blame from the stall owners to the landlords, arguing that the real issue is the skyrocketing rent. One netizen explained that running a kopitiam nowadays has become unsustainable because landlords raise rents when a business is doing well.
He added, “[The landlords] they forget f&b owners will exit once they increase and shift to industrial area, cause rental more affordable.”
Another agreed, stating, “Landlord are leeches!! Never respect them!!”
In similar news, a customer took to social media earlier this month to complain that a coffee shop in Bishan charged him an extra 20 cents for his takeaway coffee, even though he brought his own cup.