A man in Singapore was left stunned after being charged SGD 5 (approximately MYR 17.80) for a cup of sugarcane juice with less ice and added lemon at Holland Village Food Centre, deeming the price exorbitantly high.
Mr Liu, a 60-year-old man working in the media industry, shared with Shin Min Daily News that he visited the beverage stall at the food centre around 6 p.m. on a Wednesday to purchase the sugarcane juice.
I ordered a medium-sized sugarcane juice. When I was paying, the stall owner told me it was SGD 5. I thought he was joking at first, but it really was SGD 5!
“I asked her why it was so expensive, and she said that the cost of everything had gone up,” Liu expressed his astonishment, noting it was his first time buying a drink from that stall.
He said he never paid so much for sugarcane juice before. Usually, for less ice and lemon, the most expensive he has seen elsewhere is SGD 3 (approximately MYR 10.68).
Liu later bought a beef rice dish from a neighbouring stall, which he found delicious and generously portioned, for only SGD 6 (approximately MYR 21.35), making the sugarcane juice’s price seem even more unreasonable by comparison.
Following his post about the incident, many agreed with his sentiment, finding the SGD 5 price for sugarcane juice excessively high. Some friends even joked, asking if the sugarcane was imported from Holland.
“Food centres are supposed to be affordable places where ordinary folks can get their meals. But if even visiting a food centre becomes a financial burden, where does the problem lie?” Liu questioned.
No one complained
As a local journalist visited the stall involved, the 75-year-old owner, Michael, who has been in business for 15 years, said he had never received complaints before.
He mentioned that prices were clearly displayed at the stall and that there had been no complaints about the prices in the past two days.
Michael also said customers could directly address any dissatisfaction with him.
“I raised the prices by 30 cents (approximately MYR 1.07) on the first and second day of the New Year, but then it went back to the original price,” Michael explained.
According to the report, the stall displayed three different cup sizes, each with a price tag that has been in place for a year: regular, large, and limited edition size.
The regular cup is priced at SGD 2.50 (approximately MYR 8.90), the large at SGD 3.50 (approximately MYR 12.46), and the limited edition extra-large at SGD 4.50 (approximately MYR 16.02).
For the regular and large cups, less ice costs an additional SGD 1 (approximately MYR 3.56), and adding lemon costs another 50 cents (approximately MYR 1.78).
For the limited edition extra-large cup, less ice is an additional SGD 2 (approximately MYR 7.12), with lemon adding another SGD 1.
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