Haizzz..

There was one time when i went to the hawker center to buy wanton mee for my lunch. The food prices varied from minimum $2.50 or even $3. Wah..so expensive but yet the food was so little; i could just finish up the mee within a few bites and that’s it..gone!!

It is very rare that we can see $2 meal in many food stalls. Living expenses in Singapore is getting higher and higher; be it food, transport, lifestyle etc. I have been living in Singapore for more than 20 years and i have experienced the great change of these expenses: In the 1980s, when i was in primary school, my parents gave me 50 cents to 60 cents everyday for my daily meal allowance. Using this 50 cents, I could buy a small bowl of noodles with 40 cents and a drink for 10 cent. In the 1990s when i was in secondary school, my daily meal allowance is $1 and using this $1, i could buy a plate of rice for 80 cents. And now in the 21 century, like my younger brother who was in secondary school, being given $3 everyday, he bought a plate of chicken rice from his canteen for $2. However he was still not full yet, and kept on complaining of hunger upon reaching home. As for transport, top-up $10 in the ezlink card was never enough, especially for those people who had to travel by public transport to work. $10 would sure be finished within a few trips. Unlike in the 80s, minimum fare for a single trip was just 15-20 cents!!!

It was such a big contrast. If i could turn back the clock, i had still prefer the life of the 80’s or 90’s. It was not because I was stingy, wanting cheap stuffs that was seen everywhere during that period. Actually all i just want was a simple life, without having to worry how much i need to earn and save in order to get that kind of life i was supposed to live in.