In a Facebook post on Sunday (Apr 3), lawyer and opposition leader Lim Tean commented on the rising price of eggs and asked followers if their income had risen at the same rate—2.5 times—that the price of eggs has gone up.
Mr Lim, who heads People’s Voice (PV), said further that if his party were in Parliament, PV would discuss eggs and not bubble tea, taking a swipe at PAP MP Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC), who, in the recent Budget debate, proposed the regulation of the number of bubble tea shops for the sake of health.
“A tray of 30 eggs now cost anywhere from $7.20-$7.50. Three years ago, the same tray of eggs cost about $3. March this year alone, saw the price of eggs jump 17%!” wrote Mr Lim, adding that this would affect the prices of other goods such as char kway teow, egg and toast breakfasts at coffee shops.
“Eggs is an essential item in most people’s diet. It is in mine. It is a superfood and one I enjoy greatly.
Has your income increased by 2.5 times in the last 3 years, which is how much the price of eggs has increased? For that matter even, has your income increased by 10% recently, which is how much SP’s electricity tariffs are going to increase by from April to June?” he wrote.
Mr Lim mentioned the “misery and great hardship” that “many Singaporeans” are experiencing due to inflation, the PAP government has offered no help.
“Instead, this government is adding to the misery and hardship with the GST hike which will kick in next year! Imagine paying an increase of 28.4% in real terms for GST by 2024!” he added.
He ended his post by writing that MPs should draw attention to these matters “instead of speaking about absurd topics such as bubble tea and time-stamping of local degrees!” a sign, he added, that these MPs are out of touch “with the ordinary lives of Singaporeans.”
Egg prices have been on the rise since the beginning of the year. A March 15 Straits Times report quoted FairPrice as saying that this has been due to “market factors in the current volatile environment, such as demand and supply, feed prices, logistic costs, and general manpower shortages.”
The report also said that in February the price of a tray of 30 eggs had cost $6.15, and in March this year had gone up to $7.20.
However, TISG found that the price of eggs in Singapore in 2019 was $2.39 for 10 eggs, based on data from statista.com and ceicdata.com, and not $3 for a tray of 30 eggs as Mr Lim had claimed in his post.
Some netizens commenting on Mr Lim’s post also questioned the price he quoted for eggs three years ago.
Food prices have been on the rise since last year due to supply chain issues because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as regional climate issues. Also, Russia’s recent attack on Ukraine has also had an effect on global inflation. /TISG
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