SINGAPORE: A number of local Reddit users had a chuckle over a sign at a food stall that read, “Attention!! Our prices will rises after National Day,” though many agreed that higher costs are no laughing matter.
The sign, posted near photos of a noodle dish, mee tai mak, and kuey teow, received a lot of attention online due to its poor grammar. It was posted on r/Singapore by u/Desperate_Vanilla808 on Friday morning (Aug 9) and was captioned simply with “Happy National Day, Singapore.”
And while some commenters on the post asked where the food stall is located, the post author has yet to answer. One Reddit user hazarded the guess, however, that the location could possibly be at the canteen at the Y56 campus at Raffles Institution.
Due to the sign’s reference to National Day, many commenters posted replies along that theme.
When one wrote, “It used to be ‘Five stars arising, out of the stormy sea.’ Now can change to ‘Prices are rising, right after NDP,’” another answered with, “Count on me, Singapore/ Count on me to raise my prices more.”
Yet another commenter quipped, “We built a nation, with our hands/ The rise of prices, in our lands.”
Others took a more sarcastic tone, with one writing, “Nothing is more patriotic than rising prices during and after major holidays!”
Some expressed surprise, however, over the timing of the announced price increases, saying that it was the first time they’d heard of this. It’s far more common, they pointed out, for prices to go up after Chinese New Year.
But one wrote rather gloomily, “Might as well increase every holiday.”
Another was more defiant, writing, “Why wait till after national day? Just increase it now, we’re used to it.”
As for the grammatical error, one jokingly explained it this way: “It’s going to increase more than once. They told you that upfront so don’t be surprised.”
“Not only will they rise, they will rise in plural! lol,” another quipped.
Though many appear to still be feeling the effects of inflation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry announced on July 23 that core inflation had eased to 2.9 per cent year-on-year in June, down from 3.1 per cent in May. The Edge Singapore reported at the time that the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained flat month-on-month. /TISG
Read also: Amy Khor’s 2018 claim that that stall rentals do not affect food prices resurfaces online