I’m not sure about previous issues of Sunday Times, but today’s paper seemed to have a theme - on how people are trying to cope with the increased cost of living.

"We can barely stay afloat, say low income folks" screamed across the header of the papers today. Reading on, I read about how an administrative assistant, earning S$1350 a month, is finding it hard to cope with the rising cost of living in Singapore. She is the sole breadwinner in her family and had to look after her mother, son and 2 children from her late aunt. Faced with this cash-strapped situation, she approached her MP for help, who then put her on short term financial assistance that provides an additional $200 per month for 3 months.

These situations are probably not uncommon and is a result of the people’s pay not rising as fast as inflation in Singapore, which was estimated to be about 3.5% to 5%. However, just basing the layman’s calculation on the GST alone, it’s definitely at least 2% and this excludes the compounded effect that exists as a result of trade from raw materials to the finished product. Other things that contribute to this includes food (up to 20% increase) and electricity.

Reading on, I was also shocked to learn that luncheon meat has went up from $1.30 to $2.50 and not the 60 cents that I read about recently (the previous article cited current price as $1.90). In addition, with the recent destruction of crops from the 6 farms which were contaminated by Tengah Air Base, I can’t help but wonder if I’d see a permanent raise in the cost of raw vegetables.

Another family of 7 also saw their mum return to the work force after a 15 year hiatus. To them, the rise in living cost was too much to bear. In addition, the overtime pay that the dad used to get is stopped, resulting in a $600 reduction in pay every month.

For them, they had to resort to shopping in Johor Bahru for cheaper groceries as well as downgrading to cheaper and simpler equivalents of food, produce, groceries and toiletries. They have also switched to eating more chicken than fish because it is cheaper for them.

Amidst all these tough times, the best words that the government can give them is to "downgrade". As I am not an economist, I can’t fathom what else can be done to help the poor(er). Even for myself, I have stopped taking 1 meal a day so that I can save up that extra bit for a rainy day.

The expatriates are facing this inflation with a different set of problems, with most revolving around property rental prices. One family have to move down from their 24th floor to a similar unit on the 3rd floor - giving rise to a whole new meaning to downgrading. At least they have another alternative - pull out from Singapore altogether. Well, they may not earn as much as being an expatriate if they were to return home, but at least they have an option.

For now, I am just glad that my cuppa Tazo Chai Tea Latte had remained at the same ol’ price of $5.30. I hope it remains that way for a while more, else I’d have to downgrade to plain water soon - and they’ll chase me out for sure.

I have always been a fan of consumer electronics fairs and Sitex 2007 was not much of an exception. The only exception for this exhibition is that, I was greatly disappointed.

Unless you have deep pockets and are looking for big items (read: LCD TV, home entertainment systems), you will not be finding much offers. Of course, it could be because I am looking for DSLRs, digital cameras, and probably every other thing that happened not to be on sale. The freebies were ok, just that the price wasn’t.

For something like cameras, I guess it’s hard to deviate from the usual *ahem* speciality shops in Sim Lim once you know how much they can go for, and with independent PC/laptop sales going on every now and then, you’d barely miss anything if you missed the mega fair, unless you are going for lower end models - at least that was the feeling I got. Price wise, it’s going to be about the same, although they are more generous about the upgrades and RAMs though. Then again, I’d probably only get a Fujitsu or Sony, or perhaps the Eee PC and the first 2 are seldom on discounts while the last one… is out of stock.

However, if you are looking for LCD TVs, then this might be the right place for you. The prices are really good, especially if you are thinking of getting a high end Samsung LCD TV. 46 inches are going for about 40% off the listed price, but bear in mind though, that the prices of LCD TVs seemed to be soaring… downwards nowadays. If you buy one today, it’s good if you keep your eyes to yourself for the next 1 year.

The Starhub offers are decent, perhaps better than usual. However, I can’t stand it whenever they ask me to sign up on a new service plan. I mean, I’m already on full subscription with 2 mobile numbers, how many more services do they want me to sign up on? tsk tsk…

Besides Samsung and a few other stores, all major brands are being marketed by Harvey Norman for this show. This is quite unlike the previous ones where Courts and Best Denki fight for a piece of the consumer pie. Being so, there’s little competition in prices if you were to buy, say, a Canon or a Sony of equivalent model. Freebies are abound, but I heard that a particular fair going on in Wisma Atria is matching the same price and same freebies. Hmm…

In addition, I find that this fair is not as crowded as usual - but perhaps I chose to go at "non-peak" hours. This is perhaps good for casual browsing where you can take your time and walk around without having to squeeze with the crowd. What you might lose out on, is perhaps the time-based special offers. Then again, you’d have to be there the whole day to catch all the fabulous offers!

One other thing that I was looking for is phones. I usually don’t expect to buy them off the shelve with no contracts because the price will always nearly be exorbitant. So what I really do is to visit the booths to check out the functionality of the most recent models to make a mental note if I were going to get one elsewhere, like the forums (used sets).

Having said that, I got for myself a HP Laserjet 1020 monochrome laser printer for my daily use. At S$178 with vouchers, it was quite a steal for me. Of course, I could probably get it at a price with the vouchers offset, but I guess I’d just give them to my mum. At least she’d find better use in them.

So, if you’d still want to take a look at the great deals that are abound in Sitex, do make your way down today, being the last day, from 11am to 9pm at Halls 5 and 6. Do avoid driving there and if you have to cab down, do make do with alighting at the main road. It’ll save you about $15 from waiting in the traffic.