SIGIR 08 – Singapore traveller

Given the price of something, in most countries you have to either a) bargain to engage the shopkeeper or b) whip out your calcuator to figure out the sales tax and tip, in SG pricing is simple. The price listed is almost always the price you pay. Tax and gratuity are built into the final charge, leaving things simple.

Visitors often ask about tipping, and often locals are confused by it. There’s a simple rule that keeps everyone happy. Don’t tip. Most places have a service charge already built into your bill as part of that single price. Even in restaurants where the price may be sans service charge and tax, tips are not expected, even when a “TIP: -” line is present on a credit card slip. I’ve seen visitors attempt to leave tips only to see the helpful, nosey aunty sitting next to the table or the waiter scold them for forgetting to pick up their money (ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration). People don’t expect it in any part of their job and it keeps life simple.

Singapore also follows a reasonable set of currency denominations. Colored, different sized notes (most now plastic), unlike the U.S.’s uniform and uninspired greenback. Coins and notes are denominated in 1, 2, 5, 10 units (with the minor exception of not having a widely circulated 20 dollar note), making change easy to produce and light to carry (unlike Aussie change, which I personally think should be banned on flights for being handheld weapons — they’re sooo heavy ^_^ ). Single cent coins are largely unused, with rounding to the nearest .05 in effect. The one thing I wish Singapore would adopt is some practice of differentiating coins with a hole (as in JPY) or fringed edges (as in GBP, HKD). I found that nice and useful system when feeling around for change.

So what is the price of living in S’pore? Well, practically everything in S’pore is imported, even the water (that’s another story altogether), so that has an effect on price. I find most things here are around the same price as in other countries with some exceptions:

Pricier:

Western groceries – as it’s imported for the expat market

CDs – Apple iTunes not here yet?

Cars – actually probably comparable to most other places except for US which has its own particularities with petrol and cars (I’m not getting started on that tirade).

Cheaper:

Electronics – perhaps slightly cheaper than nearby ASEAN countries, due to volume of consumers. Buy your camcorder, mp3 player and other goods here. Just make sure that it comes with a voltage transformer that you can just easily plug in back home. Try Sim Lim or Funan IT malls — see your travel guide for info on that.

Wines – we import a lot of wines from Australia and as the public learns how to drink more, import volume has increased and prices have dropped.

Ladies shoes – in the region in general, we have a lot of cheap shoes for tropical weather. Stock up. My wife will tell you that you can never have enough shoes.

Transport – cheap and good. Mass transit is still good and even taxi prices are relative low compared to other nearby metropolitan areas. Did we mention commutes are also shorter usually? That saves you even more money, timewise too.

Hawker food – a great, cheap and easy way to fatten (oops, I meant flatten) your way to a gastronomically indulgent lifestyle.

Posted on April 20th, 2008 by knmnyn
Filed under: singapore