SINGAPORE: “Everything is expensive.” Such was an individual’s response to a recent street interview, where people were asked to compare prices in Singapore to that of other Southeast Asian countries. Others who were interviewed listed specific examples of how Singaporean prices are on a whole other level–from S$8 lattes, S$10 taxi fees, and even a S$1,800 room.
“So Singapore is ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the world. Can you give us some examples of what is considered expensive compared to maybe some other Asian cities?” This was the question an interviewer for Asian Boss Media asked Singaporeans on the street. In a Tiktok video published a week ago, the channel shared interviewees’ responses.
@asianbossmedia Did you know that Singapore currently shares the title of the world’s most expensive city with New York? In fact, this city-state is consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive cities, from having the highest car prices to being the costliest place to shop for clothes. We asked Singaporeans to provide examples of what kind of factors contribute to the high cost of living in Singapore. Follow @asianbossmedia for more authentic insights from Asia! #singapore #car #expensive #wealth #personalfinance #asiancity #asia #asianboss #streetinterview #staycurious
“Everything is expensive,” the first interviewee answered. “Cars, housing, I think food is also rising in comparison. I would say in comparison to the Southeast Asian markets around us.”
The second interviewee cited lattes. “My parents will laugh at me when I will tell them I have like SGD 8 (USD 6) lattes…which I just did, by the way.”
A third mentioned transportation costs in Singapore. “Transport,” he said. If you were to hail a cab in Singapore in the late morning of 3:00 a.m., the transport fee for that would shoot up to SGD 100 (USD 75).”
The last interviewee shared her rent as an example. “For me right now, my rent is like SGD 1,800 (USD 1,300),” she said.
When asked how big her house was, she answered, “My place is only like two times two (six by six feet)? Yeah, three times two (nine by six feet) maximum. That’s my house right now. It’s a room, actually.” She also shared her insight on the issue of housing costs in Singapore, saying, “Actually, you have no choice because if you have no house, where are you going to live, right?”
In the complete video on Asian Boss Media‘s Youtube channel, many more Singaporeans can be seen answering questions revolving around the cost of living and salaries in Singapore.
At one point in the video, the interviewer says, “So Singapore is actually known as the country with the highest salary in Asia. So for the people outside of Singapore, it may seem like everybody is doing very well in Singapore and they don’t really struggle financially. Do you think this is true or do people still struggle to get by in Singapore?”
One person said, “It’s a struggle to get by in Singapore. It isn’t true. It isn’t as it seems.”
Another responded, “I think it’s true that they have these stereotypes. For example, I have international friends that think Singapore is rich, but personally, it’s not true. Because there are a lot of Singaporeans that are basically struggling in terms of finance.”
“People are still struggling because the work that they need to do is so much in order to get that amount of money for the expenses that they need to spend,” said a third.
Still, another answered, “Even though the average (salary) is quite high, the disparity between the highest and the lowest is still quite disproportionate.”