SINGAPORE: A man who makes $4000 a month asked on social media why some people, despite having “sky-high” salaries, complained so much about Singapore’s rising cost of living.
“Why the fuss over the increase in a cup of kopi from $1.50 to $1.80?? Or kaya toast from $4 to $6? Like seriously, how much of a difference do you think saving those few cents is gonna make? You think saving a few hundreds a year is going to get you FI by 40?” u/ashandburnnn wrote on r/singaporefi on Sunday (Jan 28).
“Fact of the matter is.. cost of living is increasing everywhere, not just in sg but from the year to year salary surveys, it does seem our wages are keeping up too.”
The user also added that while he does understand the pain when it’s about big-ticket items like electronics and housing, he just couldn’t fathom why people scrimped so much and complained about an increase of a few cents.
Additionally, he mentioned that he has seen people on social media who make twice or three times as much as him say things like “they will no longer order from their favorite cai png stalls because the auntie started charging a few more cents.”
“I mean cmon! Y’all claim y’all earning so much but act like y’all living on gov subsidies!” the user exclaimed. “Like guys, try to enjoy life just a little yea?!”
At the end of his post, he clarified that the people he was criticizing were not those who were truly struggling to support themselves and their families but those who were earning more than the median wage and/or did not have family responsibilities.
“1.50 to 1.80 is not a few cents leh. It’s a 20% increase.”
After reading his rant, only a handful of Redditors sympathized with the post author, with one user writing, “Singapore math – things in Singapore are expensive, but let’s buy air tickets to Japan/Australia//Korea/Europe where things are “cheaper”.
Meanwhile, the remaining Redditors defended the Singaporeans who had voiced their displeasure with the increase.
One commented, “1.50 to 1.80 is not a few cents leh. It’s a 20% increase. $4 to $6 is 50%. So, suck it up just because you can afford it? And some stalls use 1% gst increase to justify 10% increase.”
Another user agreed, saying that little things add up. She explained that while people could afford a one-time $0.50 increase for a single meal, things would be different if they were to have three meals a day, three drinks, and twice a day of public transportation, as the cumulative effect of these sporadic $0.50 increases would be a few dollars per day or a few hundred per month.
“For any median-income earner that will deflate their real earnings by 10-20%.I think most of us on reddit will be able to accept a 3-5% inflation, but 20% inflation by businesses is just daylight robbery and we refuse to “suck it up,” the user added.
One user also stated that the post author needs to understand that just because someone has higher wages “doesn’t mean they should pay more for stuff that doesn’t justify the cost of it.”
She then cited a recent example of a stall that charged 50 cents for “taking away” even when a customer brought their own container.
“Is 50 cents a lot of money? Nope. But would I complain about that and not support those greedy people? Yes.”
Read related: 50 cents takeaway boxes adds to rising cost pressures for Singaporeans