Dear readers, some time back, I shared that even my kids are talking about inflation!
Yes, that’s right, they mentioned inflation in the context of the food prices in their school canteen going north. And even if they did not share the aforementioned with me, I also knew, by virtue of the increased pocket monies that I have to give them in recent months.
It is hence heartening to read reports that the Ministry of Education says that schools will ensure meals are kept affordable, on the backdrop of the rise in canteen prices.
Back in my secondary school days, a plate of chicken rice cost only $1.50 and go backwards a number of years more, a fish ball just cost an incredible 10 cents only!
I remembered the fish ball from my primary school canteen very vividly, even though that was many years ago. I remember giving the uncle and aunty of the canteen fishball stall 10 cents in exchange for a fishball, coated with yummy ketchup. The fishball was served with a small stick poked in the middle of the fishball to allow the students to consume the fishball easier.
I can still literally now smell the hot fish ball, coated with sweet ketchup, served to me by the uncle and aunty (I can even recall how they look like). And also noteworthy is that the fishball was sold at an attractive price.
Back to the current higher cost of living, I really hope that these high costs of living can be just a transitory phase and hope that prices of everyday food items can go back to normal once days of inflation are over. I can really feel that impacts of inflation and higher cost of living everyday. Just yesterday, a simple set meal that I had with my family at a Bak Kut Tek restaurant now costs $2 more per set and you get the full brunt of the impact when this increase is multiplied by the number of sets for the family, and then slapped on service charge and GST.