Customer charged S$9.40 for his food at Simei lemak shop, he then asks loudly to confirm price, price then becomes S$7.20

SINGAPORE — A recent case involving a customer repeatedly asking how much for a meal and the final price changing within seconds highlighted another food price discrepancy at a hawker stall.

“Simei lemak shop. Charge me S$9.4 for this. After asking loudly a few times, then say S$7.2. Good leh inflation good job,” wrote the customer in a post on the Facebook page Complaint Singapore on Sunday (Jan 8).

Netizens were still perplexed at the final price, with Facebook user Teo Kim Heng providing a possible breakdown of costs. “Mee $1. Chicken wing $1.50. Egg $1. Veg $1. Total $4.50. How did they arrive at $7.20??”

“Does not even reflect in their price board. At most should be S$5 max,” added Facebook user Mel Cheong.

Meanwhile, Facebook user Foo Say Meng wondered what else could be done with the increasing food prices. “Actually, there are a lot of posts talking about the recent high price consumers are paying. What can we really do to help? Ranting definitely doesn’t help.”

Others wondered if the S$9.40 price was for the 2024 Goods and Service Tax (GST) increase to 9 per cent, which is still being implemented too early.

“S$7.20 is expensive. Only when GST is 11%, then you charge that price. The price should be 4,” noted Facebook user Lousy Puteh. /TISG

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