'More expensive than coffee or tea': $1.40 iced water at hawker centre stuns woman

From $9.80 fruit juice to $24 nasi padang, there have been countless complaints about the increase in food and drink prices across the island. 

But expensive plain water? 

In a Facebook post on Thursday (May 11), a user who goes by the name Kong MaLa shared that she had purchased a cup of iced water from a stall at Amoy Street Food Centre on the same day at 1.30pm. 

She had expected this to cost less than 50 cents. 

"Before Covid-19, most places charge [water] from 30 cents, to 40 cents to 50 cents," she said. 

So, she got a rude shock when the drink seller passed her back 60 cents in change after she paid with a $2 note. 

"That's a whopping $1.40 for ice water and it's more expensive than buying mineral water, coffee or tea," she lamented. 

In the comments, some netizens agreed with Kong. 

One theorised that the stall may be taking advantage of the hot weather to increase prices. 

However, some felt the drink seller may have returned her the wrong change. 

Another added that some drink stalls do charge 60 cents to a dollar for drinking water. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Kong for more details. 

On Google reviews, AsiaOne found that the stall has a 4.8 star rating with a total of 13 reviews. The lowest rating is four stars. 

While none of these reviews mentioned the price of the stall's plain water, many praised their ginger coffee and tea. 

Two years ago, one woman also mentioned that the tea there cost just $1. 

Last December, a man was shocked after he was charged 50 cents for plain water, taking to Facebook to ask if it was meant to be this expensive. 

However, the drink stall owner shared his side of the story to Shin Min Daily News then and said that he was "forced" to increase the price from 40 cents to 50 cents to keep up with the times. 

"Recently, prices have risen sharply and everyone knows that water and electricity bills have increased," the 60-year-old said, adding that he also has to factor in payment for services such as boiling water and washing of cups.

ALSO READ: Singapore diners complain of high food prices, shrinking portions

melissateo@asiaone.com

No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.