Exorbitantly priced $9.30 cai png stuns hawker centre diner

SINGAPORE: Shocked at the S$9.30 she paid for cai png or an economy rice meal at one stall, a woman took to social media to ask if the price was actually “normal” or whether the stall was “just plain exorbitant.”

A Ms Diana Lim posted on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Thursday (Aug 15) a number of photos of the meal she bought, as well as the receipt that showed she paid S$9.30 for a portion each of fish and seafood, two portions of “normal veg”, and rice.

It also showed she bought the meal at Koufu Food Court at 4 Bukit Batok St, which is where Le Quest Condominium and shopping mall are located.

However, she explained in the caption to her post that she had actually been charged S$$3.50 for a “pathetic few thin slices” of pork belly, S$3 for a portion of ribs, and S$2.20 for vegetables.

“Receipt ‘fish’ is just the category under their cash register. It’s for both meat dishes,” Ms Lim added.

In Singapore, cai png meals normally cost around half of what Ms Lim paid, or even less, at least at hawker stalls and coffee shops. However, many have observed that prices even for economy rice have gone up in the past few years.

Many commenters agreed with Ms Lim that the price for her cai png meal had indeed been too high.

One woman wrote that some food stalls were charging far more than even what is warranted due to inflation and the GST hike.

“Many stand by them and defend them coz they have a hard life. What about us? We also lead a hard life trying to keep alive with rising costs and we cannot deal with food prices that escalate every other day and week,” she added.

Another pointed out that even with higher prices, some dishes are now served in smaller portions or with fewer ingredients.

A commenter wondered who is checking on ever-increasing prices.

One pointed out, however, that cai png at food courts is normally priced higher due to air-conditioning and higher rental and operating costs.

On Aug 16, AsiaOne reported that the high price of Ms Lim’s meal had been due to an error in using the wrong point of sales (POS) key when Ms Lim paid for her meal.

The stall owner, Jia Jia Le, apologized for the error and said they had “retrained the staff to use the correct key and ensure they inform the customer on special item pricing prior to ordering.”

The Independent Singapore has reached out to Ms Lim for further comment. /TISG

Read also: ‘Cai png stall ALWAYS brings most profits each month, yet people think cai png is value for money?’