Letter from Richard Seah Siew Sai, Straits Times Forum 20 Nov 07;
WHY are we fretting over a possible 5 per cent rate of inflation next year when, already, the prices of many commonly consumed items have risen by 10 to 20 per cent, or more?
I went to the market on Sunday morning and saw that my favourite you tiao stall had increased its price from 50 to 60 cents - a 20 per cent increase. It is just the latest of many hawker stalls around my place that have raised prices recently, mostly after July.
When I got home, I read in The Sunday Times that one coffeeshop in writer Bertha Henson's neighbourhood had raised its price for a cuppa from 70 to 90 cents - a 29 per cent increase.
As I don't drive, I had to learn from your newspaper that petrol prices have risen 24 per cent since January, while cooking gas has gone up by $4 a tank, which is about 13 to 17 per cent more than a year ago.
Some weeks back, I ate kway chap at the coffeeshop near my flat and was shocked that my meal came to $4.50.
I thought the hawker had made a mistake, as I used to pay about $3.50 for similar items. The hawker said no.
A slab of tofu now costs $1, a hefty increase from just 50 or 60 cents before. I have decided to boycott that stall.
Old Chang Kee, which I proudly regard as Singapore's answer to fast food, has raised the prices of its snacks by 10 cents each, an increase of about 10 per cent. At least, it is not as much as the increases imposed by others.
So, what exactly does the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure? Why is it predicting a mere 5 per cent rate of inflation when the prices of so many everyday products have gone up by a much bigger margin?
I have studied enough economics to know that it depends on the 'basket of goods' that goes into the calculation of the CPI. Perhaps the Department of Statistics could reveal the items that go into this 'basket'.
In particular, does it contain a fair amount of cooked hawker food to reflect the Singaporean habit of eating out often?
When was the basket last updated? I suspect another updating of this basket will reveal the inflation rate to be even much higher.
Some cashing in on rising cost of ingredients to make higher profits
Letter from Jeffrey Law Lee Beng, Straits Times Forum 20 Nov 07;
MS BERTHA Henson's article, 'What's more important than rising food costs?' (The Sunday Times, Nov 18), provides food for thought.
Rising flour prices have resulted in our paying more for confectionery and other food items made of flour. However, there are some food operators who exploit the situation.
Now my favourite wanton mee seller charges me 20 cents more for a bowl, from $2.50 to $2.70, citing price increase in ingredients. I accept that the small increase is reasonable.
Another wanton mee seller recently raised his price to $3, an increase of 50 cents which he could not justify. Apparently, he must be thinking: why charge 20 cents when customers do not mind paying an additional 50 cents? After all, an increase is an increase.
I was surprised the other day when a glass of soya bean milk cost me 70 cents when it used to be 50 cents. When I asked the vendor whether the 20-cent rise was due to more expensive soya bean, he replied in the negative.
What amazed me even more was that since most of the food operators had upped their prices, he just followed suit.
So, unless we have an increased awareness of the value of money, we will fall prey to food operators who indulge in profiteering.
