One essential Singaporean life skill that anyone living here should possess is the awareness of the difference between a kopitiam, and Kopitiam.

And while it is well known that the same item from the latter would cost more than at a traditional kopitiam, one Nizam Vanderbeek still got a shock when he had to pay S$14 for his Nasi Padang.

So outraged he was that he took to Facebook page Halal Cafe & Restaurants in Singapore with a complaint about his experience on Monday, Mar. 12:

A picture of his food accompanied the post:

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As well as a photo of the receipt, in which the fish is charged as two servings of chicken:

As mentioned in his post, Vanderbeek appended a screenshot of his email to Kopitiam regarding the matter, adding that he has yet to hear a further update from them:

For reference, the average food court Nasi Padang with one meat and two vegetable dishes costs about S$6.50.

To be fair, the box it comes in seems to be a sizeable, square one (unlike the typical rectangle styrofoam box you might get with cai png), which means the whole fish served should be pretty big.

But that said, VivoCity is a relatively upscale place to have your meal at — even if it's the food court — but we're not sure that can account entirely for the discrepancy.

Top image from Nizam Vanderbeek's Facebook post.

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