Friday, July 13, 2007

Cost of Living

Quote of the day: Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

FINALLY!

I had some time the other day, so I did a little survey on the price of things in Singapore and Malaysia. Just the basic stuffs.

On average, people in Singapore and Malaysia would have the same digits as salary, just in different currencies. Let's say one earns RM3000, and the other earns SGD3000. It's a reasonable and realistic salary in both countries. So, let's see the cost of everyday necessity.

I went to Tesco, one of the hypermarkets in Malaysia that offers unbeatably lower prices. In Singapore, I went to Cold Storage, one of the higher-end supermarkets where expats love to go. And here are some of the randomly picked items I checked out..

Scott Tissue ( 4 boxes/pk ) RM6.45 $3.15
Kelloggs Cereal, Assorted ( 6 small boxes/pk) RM5.59 $4.25
Carefree pantyliner RM7.59 $3.05
Dove Shampoo 1L RM15.49 $7.10
Dove Conditioner 1L RM16.69 $7.10
Heinz baby food 110g RM2.15 $1.40
Nestle Infant Cereal 250g RM4.35 $3.45
Dragon Rice 10kg RM32.50 $19.40 ( for 10kg Royal Umbrella Rice, one of the most premium
brand, as I could not find Dragon Rice in Cold Storage)
Dynamo Colour 5L RM21.99 $12.90

I bought a children's desk at Toys R Us in Singapore for $69.95 ( original price was $79.95 before discount ), and I checked the same one at Toys R Us in JB, Tebrau City. It was RM199.95! No wonder the Toys R Us in Singapore are always crowded. The one in TC is always pathetically empty!

The only thing that is significantly cheaper, even after conversion, is cigarette. RM8.20 vs $11.00. Not that it affects me...

Have a good weekend!

3 comments:

Kean Hong said...

true. note DELL S999, about same spec in Malaysia, RM 2599 maybe.

conclusion:
i earn rm 3k in malaysia, 87% of salary go to notebook.

I earn in S'pore S3k, i pay 33% of salary.

what lah...

Kenny said...

WELL...go and work in Singaporelah.
Things are expensive in Malaysia. Low buying power. Malaysia Boleh...belanja banyak.

Weng Chung said...

i think we can go to singapore to shop once in a while la...i heard from my cousins that clothes are damn cheap over there when sales (not even megasales can challenge in singapore)...