F1 photographer shares food prices at event; Singaporeans say they were too high, but others found them reasonable

SINGAPORE: When a photographer shared a video on Instagram about the prices of the food and drinks he had at last week’s Singapore Grand Prix, the take from foreign commenters was noticeably different from what locals said.

On Oct 5, Kym Illman, a Formula 1 photographer and content creator from Australia, posted a video to show what people were paying for what they ate and drank. He specifically went behind the Pit Street grandstand to sample what was on offer.

At Shake Shack, he said a hamburger cost around US$13 (S$18), a bottle of water was US$3 (S$4), and a Coke was US$4 (S$5). At the Yakitori Don stand, he had meat skewers for US$12 (S$16), takoyaki for S$6 (S$8), and gyoza for US$8 (S$10). Meanwhile, a glass of white wine or a cocktail would set one back a little more than US$15 (S$15 to S$20) at Coconut Grove, and Mr Illman noted that they could enjoy it riverside.

Now, people can pretty much expect that food prices are inflated at events because of a little thing called capitalism. Whether it’s a concert, an exhibit, or a sports event, attendees come prepared to pay more than what they normally do, even at fast food stalls.

 

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A post shared by Kym Illman F1 (@kymillman)

Nevertheless, some commenters on Mr Illman’s post expressed surprise at the prices of food and drinks.

“Oml everything’s so expensive,” one wrote, while another added that it was “A lot. More expensive than airport food.

“We had Shake Shack yesterday, as you say, it was just as good as you get anywhere else, but three times more expensive!” an Instagram user commented.

Meanwhile, some speculated that the markup for food and beverage items was around 80% to 100%, estimates that others found ridiculous.

Interestingly, commenters outside Singapore found the prices to be reasonable.

“Some of it’s probably comparable to Perth dining in general,” observed one.

“Pretty much the same price as back home in Ireland! The shock was the tiny measure of Prosecco they serve, gone in 2 sips lol,” wrote another.

“So basically normal US prices now for that kind of stuff these days,” added another.

Others said it would simply be cheaper to leave the venue to eat, and then just come back.

One commenter wrote: “I eat under my block for 2 meat and 1 veggie for 3.40 SGD. This is how I live in Singapore.”

However, Mr Illman answered: “And you can see the race from there?” /TISG

Read also: “The problem is rent” — Singaporeans say rising food prices are also due to high land prices