Food - not a time to count dollars and
cents
Tue, Feb 05, 2008
my paper
AMID the gloomy reality of rising food costs and larger food bills
this Chinese New Year, the festivities must still go on, many
consumers say.
Retiree Madam Alice Fong will be spending $500 to hold her
family reunion dinner at a Chinese restaurant this year as the
two-room senior citizens' flat she just moved into is too small to
accommodate her extended family of 10.
Madam Serene Tang, 34, added: "It's not a time to count dollars
and cents. It?s about the people you're going to be with and how
meaningful their company is."
The civil servant spoke to my paper yesterday, while waiting in
a snaking queue of customers outside Lim Chee Guan barbequed pork
stall in Chinatown.
By 3pm, shop assistants held out signs saying that the barbequed
pork had sold out but hopeful customers remained in line.
Its managing director, Mr Rod Lim, 57, said that it was too
early to estimate if this year?s business was better than the last,
although he let on that his barbequed meat was selling out two
hours earlier than it did during the same period last year.
Mr Thomas Yeo, 46, felt that people were not tightening their
belts because Chinese New Year is a once-a-year occasion.
Said the marketing director, who is back on a two-week holiday
from Tokyo, where he works: ?By cutting back on daily expenses,
such as switching to public transport, you will be able to save
more compared to just holding back on just one day.?
Others felt that the prosperity- driven focus of the Chinese New
Year traditions made spending hard to curb.
Said Ms May Soh, a 37-year-old executive, who spent $600 on
hampers of abalone and chicken?s essence for her parents,
grandparents and in-laws: ?It is important to give gifts as a sign
of respect to our elders, so you can?t cut back on that.?
Madam Tang agreed, and chipped in: ?There?s also the value of
face involved. If you cut back on your hongbao money, people might
say you are not doing so well.?