Do you feel the pinch?

I got this from a colleague over email and I think it's good to share this...
Disclaimer: the list and the dates have not been verified, and is for reference only.


2007 and the list of price increases


Jan: All diesel-driven vehicles to undergo smoke test.
Jan: NUH's A&E fee raised from $70 to $80.
Jan: Skilled Foreign workers levy raised by $50, from $100 to $150, for all sectors.
Jan 26: SMU Law Course to cost more, NUS says it may increase fees too.
Feb: KK Women's and Children's Hospital hikes ward treatment fees.
Feb 14: Tax penalties from GST audits could increase. With the hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) by two percentage points, tax analysts said tax penalties arising from businesses making mistakes in GST audits may also increase.
Feb 25: Sunny Cove: Fees to Pulau Hantu Raised - As of 24th February 2007 (Saturday), the operator had increased the price for the chartering of boat to local water. With the price hike, all courses conducted at local water will be subjected to the increase from 25th February 2007 (Sunday) onwards.
Feb 25: Eldershield premiums to go up by year's end.
April 1: Singapore Medical Association withdraws guidelines on fees. Doctors now have more flexibility to adjust their fees, following a decision by the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) to withdraw its guidelines on fees, as of 1 April.
April 1: URA increase fees for Housing Developers's Licence â€" from between $500 to $8,000.
April 2: NUS revise car park charges.
April 8: Means testing for hospital admission to start within a year. Subsidised patients that stay more than five days in a public hospital can expect some questions about their income.
April 11: Ikea to start charging customers for plastic bags. (ST, 11 April, 2007)
April 25: The Singapore American School increased tuition fees by between $425 and $1,000.
April: Within hours of each other, the four petrol companies in Singapore - First Shell, then Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), ExxonMobil and lastly Chevron - each revised its prices. The retail price of petrol and diesel rose by 10 cents. (Electric New Paper)
May 12: Inflation heads for a higher plane. For now, the major public concern is a rise in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 5% to 7% in July, which is likely to exacerbate the series of worrying price increases over the past year.
May 14: NUH increase ward charges for B2 and C-class wards by $2, increases of 4 and 8 per cent.
May 23: DBS raises its e-transaction fee for initial public offering (IPO) applications. Retail investors who applied for IPO shares launched on or after that date, through the local bank's ATMs and Internet banking, were surprised that they now have to pay $2.
May 29: New fee hikes at public hospitals and polyclinics. A NEW round of fee hikes is underway at most public hospitals and some polyclinics. Subsidised patients at four public hospitals will now pay $24 or $25 for every visit to a specialist clinic, up from about $21. All 18 polyclinics, which used to charge a standard consultation fee of $8 for adults, now charge anything from $8-$8.80.
May: From milk to Milo, cooking oil to coffee, canned foods, processed foods, wheat products and more, prices have been rising recently at supermarkets and hypermarts here.
June 1: Prices of milk go up. The price increase for condensed milk ranged from $0.10 to $0.50, which means the prices for some brands of condensed milk have gone up by nearly 45 per cent. The price increase for evaporated milk ranged from $0.15 to $0.47, marking a percentage increase of between 18 per cent to 48 per cent.

June 4: Online hosiery shop increases price. There will be a overall price increase on 4th June 2007 for all brands due to increased cost of yarns and cost of shipping.

June 6: Even before the Nets fee hike kicks in, a shoe shop in Parkway Parade has already started charging customers extra to cover the increase.
June 7: Wholesale price of ducks goes up. The wholesale price of ducks has increased by 20 cents a kilogram.
June 7: Eggs price increase. Eggs now cost between 17 cents and 18 cents each.
June 29: Rental space rents rise. Islandwide, rents at Grade A malls have moved up by between 5-7 per cent in the first half of this year and could increase by another 5-6 per cent by end-2007, analysts said. (Business Times, June 29, 2007)
June 29: Fees up by 14% on average at NUS. Two days before the higher 7-per-cent GST kicked in on July 1, prospective students of the continuing education arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS) received news that fees for many courses had gone up â€" by an average 14 per cent.
July 1st: GST increased from 5% to 7%.
July 1st: THE Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) and market leader ExxonMobil became the first companies to raise pump prices at their petrol stations following the GST hike. The two companies increased prices across the board for their three grades of petrol and diesel by 0.23 cents to 0.33 cents per litre from 7am. Caltex will be increasing its pump prices on Monday. (ST, July 1, 2007)
July 1st: NETS announced a price hike for its Electronic Funds Transfer Point-of-Sale (EFTPOS) and CashCard Services to between 1.5% and 1.8%.
July 1st: Pasir Ris â€" Punggol Town Council revise penalties for late payment of S&C charges to 2% and absorb 7% GST.
July 1st: Cigarette prices up as bar ban kicks in. Tobacco companies raised the prices of popular brands by an average of 40 cents. This brought the price of a 20-stick pack of Marlboro or Dunhill cigarettes, for example, to $11.60.
July 3: Resale price index for HDB flats rise 2.9% from 3 months before.
July 4: The Committee Against GST Profiteering (CAP) has found price changes to be generally moderate since the announcement of the GST increase in November 2006.
July 10: Changi General Hospital increases A&E charges. Following in the wake of earlier hikes by the National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital, CGH this month increased its A&E attendance fee by $10 â€" or 15 per cent â€" to $75. For the B2 and C-class wards, the daily treatment fee went up by $1, representing a 6-to-10-per-cent increment. The daily ward charge for B2 wards also rose by $1, or 2 per cent.
July 11: Starhub raise prices for cable tv packages. SCV subscribers pay $4 more across the board.
July 11: The Committee Against GST Profiteering has received 33 complaints in the past six months about price increases, all dealing with food items. About 10 cases involve chain businesses. (ST, July 11, 2007)
July 15: Electricity tariffs to be raised by almost 9% for July to September.
July 18: Govt raises development charge from 50% to 70% for new building projects from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the increase in value of the land.
July 21: HDB rents at 10-year high. For the first time in recent memory, monthly rents for some HDB flats have pushed northwards of $2,000 in leases signed in the last couple of months. (ST, 21 July 2007)
July 25: Hospital bills up 10% to 30% across all ward classes.
July: July inflation hits 2.6%, highest in over 12 years.
July (CPI): Housing costs increased 4.9 per cent because of higher housing maintenance charges, electricity tariffs and rented accommodation costs. (ST, Aug 23, 2007)
July (CPI): Food prices went up by 1.4 per cent, mainly due to dearer cooked food, fresh fish, fruits, vegetables and milk powder.
July (CPI): Transport and communication prices moved up by 1 per cent, reflecting mainly dearer petrol and higher car prices.
July (CPI): The index for education and stationery rose by 2.1 per cent as a result of higher fees at commercial institutions and universities.
July (CPI): Prices of clothing and footwear increased by 3.9 per cent.
July (CPI): Health care cost rose by 2.2 per cent on account of dearer chinese herbs and higher charges for general medical consultation and dental treatment.
Aug 2: SBS, SMRT seeking bus, train fare increases. If approved, transport fares could rise by up to three cents from October.
Aug 2: Singapore Airlines raises fuel surcharge â€" from between US$2, US$5 and US$9.
Aug 6: ERP rates at Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel to go up. From August 6, cars passing the Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel gantries will be charged an additional $0.50. That makes it $1 per entry. Rates for motorcycles will also double to $0.50. Goods vehicles and small buses will now be charged $1.50. Heavy goods vehicles and big buses will be charged $2.
Aug 7: Student made to pay adult fare.
Aug 7: Cost of living in S'pore getting higher compared to neighbours. Singapore retains its 9th position out of 41 Asian locations as the most costly city. (CNA)
Aug 7: Car insurance premiums likely to increase. Higher premium rates for car insurance look almost certain, after the motor sector suffered a second consecutive quarter of losses. Rises could be between 5 and 10 per cent, according to one insurer, as the industry battles higher claims. (AsiaOne, ST, Aug 7, 2007)
Aug 8: 17% hike in Delifrance's tuna croissant sandwich, from $5.05 to $5.90.
Aug 10: Change of supplier sees spike in price of medicine. A 80ml bottle of Minoxi 5 from Trima Pharmaceutical used to cost $38.50. This time round, the price was $45.50 for a 60ml bottle. Going by volume, the price increase was a hefty 57.6 per cent. (ST Forum, Aug 10, 2007)
Aug 13: Up to 30% levy imposed on hotel room revenues during F1 race. The Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) has decided a levy of 30 per cent for hotels on the trackside, and 20 per cent for others.
Aug 23: More ERP gantries, extended hours.
Aug 24: By Aug 24, the Committee Against GST Profiteering had received 115 complaints on alleged GST profiteering. In the first two weeks of July, after the GST increase came into effect, 49 complaints were received, surpassing the 30 complaints received in May. (ST, Aug 29, 2007)
Aug 27: Singapore raises 2007 inflation forecast to 1-2 per cent. Singapore 's central bank confirmed an apparent off-the-cuff remark by Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang in parliament that inflation would come in at 1-2 percent this year, above the government's previous forecast of 0.5-1.5 percent. (Reuters)
Aug 29: Middle-aged suicide rate up. In 2003, there were 14 suicides (of men in their 40s and 50s) per 100,000. In 2006, it went up to 19 per 100,000. For women, there were 8 per 100,000. In 2006, it went up to 13 per 100,000. (TODAY, Aug 29, 2007)
Aug 29: Storage boom as rents rise. Companies which provide self-storage facilities are reporting a rise in rentals by foreigners as rising rental prices force more of them to downsize. (The Electric New Paper, Aug 29, 2007)
Aug 31: Government raises property development charges. For non-landed residential use, the charge was raised by an average of 58 percent with prime areas like Cantonment Road seeing the biggest jump of 112 percent. Areas seeing the highest increase (of over 100 percent) include Telok Ayer, Maxwell, Shenton, Anson and South Bridge Road. (CNA)
Sept 1st: New dog licensing rules. To discourage dog owners from keeping unlicensed dogs, allowing their dogs to stray or not muzzling dogs of breeds 2 that are required to be muzzled in a public place (eg, the Rottweiller or Mastiff); the maximum fine for such offences has been raised from $500 to $5,000.
Sept 5: Esso won't go public on fuel price changes. IF YOU are an Esso customer, you will not know if the price of your fuel has changed until you drive right up to a pump. ExxonMobil - the biggest player here with 74 out of the total of about 200 stations - has adopted a new policy against revealing changes in pump prices to the media. Neither does it display prices at station entrances. (Straits Times, Sept 5, 2007)
Sept 11: Adult EZ-link fares for buses upped from October. From 1 October, adult EZ-link fares for buses will increase by between one and two cents. But there will be no increase for train fares. (CNA)
Sept 12: Special needs school raise fees by 100%. I was shocked to receive a letter in July stating that school fees would increase by 100 per cent from this month. No other institution - even private schools - operates in this manner by increasing its fees by 100 per cent. (Letter to ST forum)
Sept 13: Employers to buy medical insurance for foreign workers. From January next year (2008), employers will have to buy and maintain insurance for the medical expenses of all foreign workers on Work Permit or S Pass. (CNA)
Sept 25: Electricity tariffs to go up because of higher oil prices. Barely 2 months after the increase of 9% in July , electricity tariffs will again go up later this year because of higher oil prices. SP Services said electricity tariffs will be raised by an average of 0.86 cent, or 4.29 percent, per kilowatt-hour, for the three months from October to December. (CNA)
Sept 25: Cosmetics costing more? Taking a hit from the Goods and Services Tax hike, prices of consumer products in Singapore grew at a pace not seen since 1994. (TODAY)
Sept 27: Gardenia loaf of bread cost 5% more in three months. " Yesterday we found out that its price has soared to $2. If you work that out against the original $1.90, it means that the total price increased is 5.3 per cent in three months." (Letter to ST forum page.)
Sept 29: Why higher fees for vacant flat? "MY LATE grandfather, who was the sole owner and occupier of a three-room HDB flat, had been paying $38 a month in conservancy fees to the town council. His estate now has to pay $55 a month (a 45 per cent increase) for the vacant flat, the reason being that the $38 concessionary charge no longer applies as it is now unoccupied." (Letter to ST Forum Page)
Sept: Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society to increase fees from between $5 to $10 due to the society becoming a GST-registered entity.
Oct: Starhub Cable TV sports channels subscribers pay $10 more.
Oct 1: Public transport fare increase takes effect.
Oct 1: Private home prices in Q3 up by 8%: URA flash estimate. The prices of private residential property in Singapore increased by eight per cent in the third quarter of this year. ( CNA )
Oct 1: HDB resale prices up by 6.5% in Q3: HDB's flash estimate. Public housing resale prices went up by 6.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, compared to the previous three months. (CNA )
Oct 1: Petrol, diesel price up 3-5 cents. At 10am, Caltex increased its petrol and diesel prices by 3 cents a litre, while Shell upped its rates by 5 cents a litre. By 3pm, Singapore Petroleum Co followed suit by raising its pump rates by 5 cents a litre. The increase is the fifth upward revision since July, as crude oil prices hover at record levels above US$80 a barrel. (AsiaOne)
Oct 1: Hotel room rates expected to go up by 25% in Q4. Hotel room rates in Singapore in the fourth quarter are expected to be 25 per cent higher than that of last year, according to industry players. (CNA)
Oct 3: The price of chickens has risen by 20 to 50 per cent here since last week, caused by the wholesale price hike from Malaysia, among the factors, according to media reports. (Bernama)
Oct 4: Queensway Shopping Centre, Sim Lim Square and sky-high rentals in Singapore . As the leases are expiring about now, get ready for a radical change in Sim Lim Square , the highest rentals for the shops selling the lowest margin products ever. (C Net Asia)
Oct 19: SIA ups fuel surcharge by between $3 and $9. The new charges, which are between $3 and nearly $9 more than the current surcharges, will apply to tickets issued from Oct 24 and to both SIA and SilkAir flights. (TODAY)
Oct 20: Price of flour up 30%. The price of flour has increased again, but this time it has gone up by thirty percent. This is the biggest ever hike, according to industry watchers. From January, it will cost 20 cents more to buy a loaf of bread. (CNA)
Oct 22: Caltex petrol, diesel prices up. AMERICAN oil company Chevron raised pump prices of its Caltex petrol and diesel by five cents a litre on Monday - the sixth increase since July and the second in about a fortnight. The others - Shell, ExxonMobil and Singapore Petroleum - are likely to do likewise in the coming days. Chevron's move brings its pump prices to record levels. (Straits Times)
Oct 26: Private home prices up 8.3% in Q3. Singapore private home prices rose 8.3 percent between July and September to their highest level in a decade. (Asia One)
Oct 27: Prices of HDB resale flats keep accelerating. 'As at end-September, the HDB resale price index has increased by about 11 per cent since the start of the year,' the HDB said. For five-room flats, the median resale price in Queenstown is the highest at $603,000, followed by Marine Parade at $560,000 and Bukit Merah at $530,000. ( Straits Times)
Oct 28: Singapore raises noodle prices. Starting Nov. 1, the price of noodles in Singapore will increase 20 percent to 30 per cent, the Singapore Noodles Manufacturers' Association announced on Sunday. (AHN News)
Oct 30: ERP rates going up again for third time this year. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are going up again for the third time this year. There will also be new gantries erected. From November 5, motorists will pay $3.50 from 7:30am to 8:00am. The amount charged goes up to $5.00 between 8:30am and 9:00am. This is a $1.50 increase in the 8:30am to 9:00am period since February this year. (CNA )
Oct 30: 100 bakeries to raise bread prices by up to 20%. OVER 100 bakeries have indicated that they will be raising bread prices by up to 20 per cent, following a jump in flour prices. (Straits Times)
Nov 2: Expect steep hikes in tyre, wheel and battery prices. BESIDES record fuel prices and higher Electronic Road Pricing rates, motorists must prepare to pay more for batteries, tyres and wheels. The Singapore Motor Tyre Dealers Association is preparing to announce sizeable price hikes, with battery prices going up by as much as 50 to 70 per cent. Tyre prices will go up by 20 to 30 per cent, and wheels by 10 to 20 per cent, the association's assistant secretary, Mr Robert Tng, told The Straits Times. (Straits Times)
Nov 5: A TRIP to the supermarket will cost more now than it did at the beginning of the year. A Straits Times check on a random basket of basic goods sold at supermarkets here revealed price increases in almost every category, from fresh chicken to coffee and milk formula. (Straits Times)
Nov 5: Prices for Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) motor gasoline across all three grades and diesel will be increased by seven cents per litre. (SPC)
Nov 8: Raffles Place retailers face space crunch, soaring rents. A recent study by property consultant Cushman & Wakefield found rent rises of up to 24 per cent over the past two years in the area. (Straits Times)
Nov 23: Singapore 's October CPI up 3.6% on-year, 1.3% on-month. Singapore's October consumer prices rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier after an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), government data showed on Friday. (CNA)
Nov 29: Pump prices increase by 5 cents. All four oil companies Shell, Caltex, ExxonMobil and Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) â€" have increased pump prices for petrol and diesel by five cents. In the past 11 months, the price of petrol has shot up nine times and twice just in this month alone. (CNA)
Nov 29: Second Link toll charges to go up next year. VEHICLES from Singapore crossing into Johor via the Second Link Expressway will have to pay higher tolls from Jan 1, the Malaysian government announced yesterday. Passenger cars using the Second Link route will have to pay RM10.80 (S$4.60) next year, compared with RM8.40 now. (Asia One)
Dec 9: Price of luncheon meat soar, from $1 to as high as $3. Prices of luncheon meat have been on the rise since August when the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) rejected and destroyed a consignment of canned pork products from two food processing plants in China. (New Paper)
Dec 10: ComfortDelgro raises taxi fares. Commuters will pay between 18 per cent and 49 per cent more for a taxi ride home from the city from 5pm to midnight . ( Straits Times) ( CNA)
Dec 11: SCHOOL bus fares will go up by at least $5 to $10 in January, sparked by the increase in diesel prices in recent months. (Straits Times)
Dec 14: Singapore 's second-largest taxi operator SMRT will be raising its fares from next Friday, December 21. The changes are in line with the adjustments made by market leader ComfortDelGro which will be increasing fares from December 17. (CNA)
Dec 14: Hike in POSB coins charge excessive. "IN THE past, whenever I made a deposit or withdrawal in coins, I paid $5 in service charge for every $500. Now, I have to pay $15 for every $500. So if I changed $1,000 into coins, I would lose $30." (ST Forum Page)
Dec 14: Adjustment rate for housing loan changed unilaterally. "This unilateral change in adjustment rate is an increase in effective interest on the loan, and it is done without changing the loan interest rates. Is it fair for banks to offer adjustment rates as a 'feature' to woo customers but, six months into the loan, unilaterally reduce the benefits of the feature?" (ST Forum Page)

Dec 14: Hike in luggage surcharge wasn't publicized. "When they were at the check-in counter, they were informed that the overweight charge was $20, not $8, and if they did not pay up they would not get their boarding passes. They had no choice but to pay." (ST Forum Page)
Dec 20: Potong Pasir to raise S&C charges. THE opposition-held Potong Pasir ward is raising its service and conservancy (S&C) charges for the first time in a decade. Residents there will pay between $2.50 and $8 more a month, depending on the size of their HDB flat. (Straits Times)

Dec 20: Expect to pay more for food from next month. SINGAPOREANS should brace themselves for a sharp hike in food prices starting from New Year's Day, which could affect anything from curry puffs to ice cream. (Asia One)
Dec 28: Electricity tariffs to go up. Highest since 2001. From next month (Jan 2008), electricity tariffs will go up nearly 6 per cent, to 22.62 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh). (Straits Times)
2007: HDB ups valuation and administrative fees for valuation report of flats. This is to include the new 7% GST.

SMRT and the woes

I've been wanting to do this post for the longest time, but never got around to doing this. Now that I've some time to rant, here I am again.

The Singapore government is advocating public transport for all in Singapore (presumably except for those who can afford to drive cars and pay the exorbitant ERP tolls and parking fees). Public transport is good, as it will help save the world from global warming than if everyone gets his/her own car and burns up petrol.

Thing is, while our MRT system is reliable (comes on time most of the time), it is too crowded for comfort. I remember some time ago when someone was lamenting about paying the MRT fare and having reasonable expectations to have a seat occasionally, but this kind of comment is no longer heard of nowadays.

Don't get yourself fooled, not that we get to sit now more often now, but it's so bad now that if you have a proper place to stand without someone stepping on your toes, you should count yourself lucky. Oh, what am I talking about? I should have said, if you can manage to get on the train the first time round, you should count yourself lucky!

This was the scene on 12-03-08 at City Hall MRT that triggered this post. I came down from Ang Mo Kio MRT from my workplace to get to Kallang, and then after waiting for 1 min, I turned my head to look at the waiting time, expecting the train to come in any moment. The signboard read: Pasir Ris...7 mins.

7mins! If it were at 12 midnight, maybe an acceptable waiting time (even then... ah never mind.) But it was 7pm, mind you, rush hour for working folks and people waiting to get home, or meet other friends/family for dinner. 7 mins?! I thought this kind of crowd was only for festive occasions like CNY countdown or NYE countdown. But no. I was amazed.

1. Amazed at the ability of SMRT to make us pay raised fares and give us lousier service.

2. Amazed at how "efficient" SMRT can be, running trains at full capacity. (Notice I didn't use the word, almost. Yes, trains are running at full passenger load!)

3. Amazed at how no one commented about this issue. Shouldn't there be an observation on the part of the general public? Granted that SMRT is running an extra 93 trains during peak hour, but it is obviously not enough. The SMRT CEO should take a ride on a peak hour train and see how much he enjoys the ride. And I'm not even talking about the train rides being bumpy and making people lose balance ever so often.

One important skill you gain when riding the MRT often enough is the ability to balance yourself. Even then, it's very often to hear a collective clicking of heels on floor when a bad turn is executed. I'm not sure but if you ask me, MRT rides have sort of gotten rougher and more bumpy. Maybe they should turn it into a joyride for tourists - "experience the wild side of Singapore, the twists and turns!"

Bah. 'Nuff said. I hope SMRT and SBS clean up their act soon.