Yes, the GST has just been raised from 5 to 7%. Prices are expected to rise with this increase in GST. Also with the buoyant stock and property markets, people are out spending their windfalls, so retailers are increasing their prices to take advantage of everybody's spending power.
My favourite otah has gone up in price from 40 cents a stick to 50 cents a stick (an increase of 25%) and the wantan mee from my favourite die-die-must-try stall has increased in price from $2 to $3. That's a 50% increase!! Car park rates at a mall I frequent has gone up from $2.10 an hour to $2.20 an hour.(That's a 5% increase). Looks like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon to increase their prices, but their increases are more than the 2% increase in GST! I find it hard to believe that the government survey found only 61 out of 1300 hawkers that have increased their prices. For me it is two out of my 4 favourite stalls.
Even landlords are doing the same. I just got a letter from little D's school to say that they would be moving out from their current premises at the end of this year. (oh dear! now our commute to school is going to take more than the 2 minutes we now take!) Little D's school is operated out of a BIG house in our residential area. The landlords have been increasing the rents every two years since the pre-school moved in. Now they want to double the rental!! I guess they just want our pre-school out! From the grapevine, I heard that they want to demolish the current house and build a row of semi-ds in its place. With the current prices, they would make a fortune! At the way things are going, it looks like almost all pre-schools that are currently in good residential districts would have no choice but to move out (unless parents are willing to fork out substantially more for school fees - Blek!).
I wish the government would do something about this. I believe it is "foreign" money that is coming in and buying up most of the properties, hence driving the prices up. Prices of everything will spiral out of control. Something needs to be done. I dont want to pay too much more for school fees, or anything. As it is, everything is already so expensive!!
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7 comments:
I can empathise with you because I have similar rantings here.
When my youngest sister started kindergarten at a public school in Illinois, her book fee was $120. She didn't even know how to read yet. That's on top of the meal fee, required immunization fee, initial screening fee and application fee. It's so sad that a public education is diminishing in quality in many parts of the world, yet increasing in price.
Everything is going up around the world.
Economy is a funny game (in my opinion). How many ministers of finance actually know their job?
Maybe only when they have lived like us in the 'real' world.
Hi Victor
we are in the same boat, hoh?
Hi Kelly
Thanks for popping by. yes, quality education is hard to come by,and just too expensive!
OMG! Can't believe it. The incremental is unjustifiable. I think a lot of people have to struggle more to get decent food!
Hahaha...I think you can just wait that the govt will do something about it. They already opened the floodgate ...sigh...
Hi Judy
Yes, wish MOFs lived like us, then they appreciate what we go thru. Can you imagine what the lower income groups are facing?
Yes Mott, u are right. USed up all my GST credits in less than 2 weeks. I only got $100.
Tigerfish,
Like they say, I have to wait "long, long". Good thing is they have announced that they will raise land devt charge to 20%. That should dampen the enbloc property market a little.
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