I was out with family to Wisma (Orchard) today. It was Sunday afternoon about 6pm and we went to Food Republic at its 4th floor. Surprisingly the space was only half occupied at this peak hour, and 4-5 stores have been closed. I talked with one chef and he told me that the store decided not to continue when contract was due.
In 2008/2009, wife and I visited Wisma a lot, and I can still remember the Food Republic was so popular then that it was hard to find any vacant seat during that dinner/lunch time. Now it is totally different.
Recently I also talked with some vendor friends who drives every day. They also concurred that road has been less crowded than before. They believe people sell their card as COE was high and petro cost becomes harder to bear.
We can see that the living cost in Singapore has been rising sharply since 2007. Even after the crisis, the inflation has indeed shown impact to life. If one can not sustain at least 10% increment in its salary or total income per year, the living standard is actually decreasing in the last 5 years.
And now, more signals are showing the short recovery of economy is coming to the end…