US tourist spends S$45 on food at Newton Food Centre, says he prefers M'sia food

Newton Food Centre has always been a popular tourist spot in Singapore.

One tourist from the U.S., however, didn't seem too impressed by the prices of the food there.

In a Sep.11 TikTok video by travel influencer Terry Pernell shared his views about food in Singapore:

@terrypernell Singapore got me paying $35 for food… meanwhile Malaysia got the same vibes for half the price 😅 Which one y’all picking? #travelwithterryp #S#SingaporeVsMalaysiaoutheastasiafoodie #B#BudgetTravelAsia ♬ original sound - TravelWithTerryP🇺🇸➡️🇲🇾Asia

Foodie woes

Pernell lamented over having to pay S$45 for the 10 satay sticks, fried rice and a meat dish that he had bought at Newton.

After taking a bite of the satay, he conceded that it was “not bad” but that the food did not wow him.

He then proceeded to film his location and took a walk around the hawker centre, muttering a few times in the video that “this is a food court, y’all, I’m not joking, it’s a food court”.

The Malaysia-based content creator also said that if he were given a choice between Malaysian and Singaporean food, he'd choose Malaysian food "any day".

He ended the vid with a warning:

“Better watch yourself over here in Singapore… Bring that big bag, you know."

Netizens were quick to offer up their own views on his predicament.

Most of them advised that Terry should eat elsewhere if he wanted "cheaper" and "real" Singaporean food.

Some tried to lure him over to the other side of the Causeway.

Expectations of cheap hawker food

Pernell’s woes over the expensive prices he paid has been an ongoing conversation on how much Singaporeans should pay for hawker food.

Some hawker stalls have operating costs of about S$10,000 a month, as reported by Channel News Asia (CNA).

Rent also doesn't come cheap, with one stall allegedly paying S$6,810 per month for rent.

In a follow-up video, Tyler talked about how he wanted to understand the reasoning behind Singapore's high prices and that the country has "got it going on".

However, he would still choose Malaysia “hands down” between Singapore and our neighbour.

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Top image from Tyler Pernell's TikTok