Singaporean MP Says Their Food Is Twice As Cheap As KL's By Median Income
Despite the price comparison, a netizen jokingly remarked that Singaporean food is not delicious.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 23 Dec 2024, 06:11 PM
A Singaporean member of parliament (MP) has highlighted that a hawker meal in the Lion City is more than two times cheaper than in Kuala Lumpur when compared against the median incomes of both cities
Speaking in Singapore's parliament last month, MP Edward Chia said that a local hawker meal is 0.1% of the Singaporean median monthly income, which was approximately SGD5,197 (about RM17,230) in 2023.
"A typical hawker meal costs SGD5 (about RM16.58). This means that a hawker meal represents roughly 0.1% of the median monthly income.
"Now, consider Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, where the median monthly income is SGD1,901 (about RM6,302.88) and a street food meal costs about SGD2.90 (about RM9.62).
"Here, a meal accounts for around 0.26% of the median income, more than twice that of Singapore," said the lawmaker from the ruling People's Action Party.
Chia made this comparison to address the rising cost of living, arguing that Singaporeans face a relatively less challenging situation compared to residents of other global cities.
He went on to praise local hawkers for offering high-quality, diverse, and delicious meals at prices that are a fraction of what people pay in other global cities.
"This affordability is Singapore's unique social compact forged out of a vocation to feed the nation. But it also underscores the financial pressures hawkers face," Chia added.
At the time of writing, the clip of Chia's comparison has garnered over 736,000 views and 600 comments on Instagram
"Agree on everything except the delicious part," a netizen said in jest.
Meanwhile, other netizens called for a more holistic comparison, arguing that Chia's explanation does not provide a complete picture of the current economic landscape.
