I managed to walk much better now so I decided to venture out for lunch today. My colleagues took me to his hawker centre about 10 minutes walk from my office. I have to admit, I was quite surprised to see such set-up amidst the Singapore Central Business District.
I would say this hawker centre is akin to the mamak area in Damansara Uptown. It’s indoor, the stalls are all systematically arranged. Of course, I experienced first hand the famous Singapore tissue-for-the-seat policy.
For the uninformed – here in Singapore, you can ‘reserve’ a seat at the food court (in this case, the hawker centre) by placing your tissue on the seat. Once it is there, no one will take your seat.
Some may ridicule it and some say it makes no sense to allow people to reserve seat in such a manner. Well, I suppose this is just another glimpse on Singapore’s structured way of doing things. I am not complaining, I get walk around scouting for food knowing my seat is well reserved by a pack of tissue paper.
SGD3 for chicken and roast pork rice. Not exactly the best but it’s certainly edible. If it’s just chicken rice, it will be SGD2.50… such price for a place right smack in the middle of the Central Business District.
I just think that lunch is so affordable.
Don’t convert, because generally, the pay in Singapore is dollar-to-dollar on par with Malaysia. That is to say, someone who is earning MYR5,000 in Malaysia will earn SGD5,000 in Singapore. So when you pay MYR5 (or MYR8.90 in a nice food court) with Malaysian salary versus paying SGD3 with Singapore salary… which one is more expensive?
But don’t worry, the great 10th Malaysian Plan is going to go ahead and it’s going to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy. With that grand plan, I am sure Malaysia will be propelled to greatness, just like how the 9 great Malaysian Plans before it.
I enjoyed my lunch today…
1 year ago… Between pride and necessity
2 years ago… A page before 30
3 years ago… A glimpse from the other side
I would say this hawker centre is akin to the mamak area in Damansara Uptown. It’s indoor, the stalls are all systematically arranged. Of course, I experienced first hand the famous Singapore tissue-for-the-seat policy.
For the uninformed – here in Singapore, you can ‘reserve’ a seat at the food court (in this case, the hawker centre) by placing your tissue on the seat. Once it is there, no one will take your seat.Some may ridicule it and some say it makes no sense to allow people to reserve seat in such a manner. Well, I suppose this is just another glimpse on Singapore’s structured way of doing things. I am not complaining, I get walk around scouting for food knowing my seat is well reserved by a pack of tissue paper.
SGD3 for chicken and roast pork rice. Not exactly the best but it’s certainly edible. If it’s just chicken rice, it will be SGD2.50… such price for a place right smack in the middle of the Central Business District.
I just think that lunch is so affordable.
Don’t convert, because generally, the pay in Singapore is dollar-to-dollar on par with Malaysia. That is to say, someone who is earning MYR5,000 in Malaysia will earn SGD5,000 in Singapore. So when you pay MYR5 (or MYR8.90 in a nice food court) with Malaysian salary versus paying SGD3 with Singapore salary… which one is more expensive?
But don’t worry, the great 10th Malaysian Plan is going to go ahead and it’s going to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy. With that grand plan, I am sure Malaysia will be propelled to greatness, just like how the 9 great Malaysian Plans before it.
I enjoyed my lunch today…
1 year ago… Between pride and necessity
2 years ago… A page before 30
3 years ago… A glimpse from the other side
24 comments:
Praise the Lord that your leg is healing well, Zewt. :D
Every time I'm in Singapore or any other countries whose currency value better than the Malaysian Ringgit, I refuse to convert when it comes to food... otherwise, I'll starve. :p
Btw, Zewt, the tissue-chopping culture is not an island wide practice and found to more common in the city area :)
Cheers - Fellow M'sian on the sunny island :)
I agree with that "dollar-to-dollar on par" theory and that's why I find things in SG is cheaper than MY. A MacBook Pro for S$2,500 but RM4,500. Yeah. LOL.
i am always amazed at the power of the tissue paper to chope place. and like all singaporeans, i actually respect that authority. haha
You know, I had exactly the same view as you and i've told most of my friends about this. Generally, a fresh grad can earn SGD2-3k in Singapore and pays SGD 3 for a lunch but our people here earns RM1800 and pays RM5 for a simple chicken rice.
And i knew about the tissue thingy long ago and found it to be really funny.Some malaysians would have thought it's free tissue left on the table. heheh
Hahaha.. yeah! I saw many ppl reserve their seats by just putting the tissue paper and nobody will ever throw that tissue paper away and take ur seat.. Real good la... Hahaha.. Yeah, actually the food is ok, only the rental in Singapore pretty high..
I like the sarcasm of the great 10th Malaysia Plan. Haha!
Not sure if should laugh or cry on ur last paragraph on Msia plan ... Haih
I guess is approppriate for me to greet u happy birthday! (referring to ur entry on before 30)
Bro, you're new in Singapore and you see everything better. Wait 1 month later... then 3 months later and then a year later. I am sure, that you'll find tons of things that will piss you off. Don't forget, Singapore is not a free country, it's basically a dictatorship or a one party system. However f*cked up Malaysian politics are, at least you have elections and some debates. And I think it can only get better. I think there are many critical minds in the Malaysian blogosphere such as yourself, but what do we have in Singapore? A big bimbo ah lian is considered the best blogger. I always felt the quality of life is better in Malaysia, even if it's a Muslim country with lots of weird things, I think Singaporeans work too much and enjoy life too little. Malaysians are warm people and your country is big and beautiful with many amazing spots. Singapore is just a city full of concrete... Believe me, buddy. You'll start to miss Malaysia. Even I miss it sometimes :)
So, one year later, remember this comment and mention me ;) Well, I think it won't take a year, hehe.
Fuuuaahhh! Farken cheap man. Relatively lah of course.
Ish .. I get your sarcasm in the last paragraph ;)
You really don't have to dig it in Zewt! LOL
LOL! 10MP by 1PM ... Msia high-income ekonomi? bro, it's a mirage ... it appears in a distance bcos of all the hot air generated. they plan to remove 'subsidies' to the ppl so dat they can subsidise curruptions. by the time PR takes over putrajaya, they r left wif an empty shell ... better u embrace the tissue-seat-chopping culture! simple tool but effective!!
But don’t worry, the great 10th Malaysian Plan is going to go ahead and it’s going to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy. With that grand plan, I am sure Malaysia will be propelled to greatness, just like how the 9 great Malaysian Plans before it.
LOL. Sarcastic-nya
Living cost in the UK is so much lower, I must say.. if you think in terms of dollar-to-dollar.
zewt ah, u very cynical leh. dun be so sinis toward our Msia Plan lah. u consider lucky loh, can get out of Marehsya.not all marehsyans are as lucky as u leh.
MKL, trust me, Sg is better. of coz, every family has it's bitter tales, so is every country. But in our lovely Bolehland, it's ruled by leaders who have no vision but greed. Msia is beutiful, no denying. Msia food is to die for. no doubt abt it. Msians are warm ppl. only the government sucks. i rest my case.
-lolita
"But don’t worry, the great 10th Malaysian Plan is going to go ahead and it’s going to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy. With that grand plan, I am sure Malaysia will be propelled to greatness, just like how the 9 great Malaysian Plans before it."
Reading the paragraph above give me the same eerie feeling just like when I read Orwell's 1984.
It that a bad sign? ;-)
jemima - haha... yeah, no one will eat in HK is they convert.
anon @ fellow msian - ohh... i shall take note of that.
day-dreamer - yeah... and a fresh grad earn the same amount in dollar to dollar term.
sinlady - if a singaporean respects it, then i have to do it too.
eiling lim - that would be really malaysia boleh if they take it.
missironic - yes, rental is the complaint... but i guess, every place has their own downside.
Sapphire Dragon - hehe... glad you caught it.
Norick - thanks... u really got the tips early.
MKL - hahaha... well, when i start missing malaysia, i will certainly blog about it.
flaminglambo - compared to aussie... definitely eh?
anak merdeka - hehe... it's true mah... so many grand plans already lor.
pinsysu - sigh... so the ppl say.... better dig dig dig while you are still there. is there hope?
Terra Shield - where... where got? :P
LX - yup... but income a little lower... and high tax.
anon @ lolita - we all know malaysia is hopeless... and the ppl who can change it say... "aiyah, i wont make a difference one lah"... that's the sad part.
Tipu Tapi Benar - hey bro... the bad sign showed itself looooooong time ago bro.
I believe u are referring to the Golden Shoe foodcourt.
MKL..I see your point. When I first moved to SG, complaints are alwaz about not having a car, living spaces so much smaller, no maid, eat out 3 meals...these I refer to the compromise of quality life.
Yet, cant deny that the earning power in Sg allows me to have my 1st savings, travel more frequent, buy things that I like without contemplating much and most importantly, able to spent on family generously when I am back in M'sia.
Panda - absolutely, couldnt agree more. i guess we win some, we lose some. in our cases, we weigh more on our wins :)
Hey, there's so much useful material above!
Quite effective info, thank you for the post.
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