Food post: #2

Rob was getting a haircut so I plumped down at the local food court and sipped a beer. S$5.80 for a 630 mL bottle (For conversion to USD, about USD$4. For comparison to food, a plate of rice with 3 different curries spooned on top costs half of that, S$2.80.)

Two tables over, an older man also sipped a beer. (This is not him, but here is a picture to give you an image.)

I wondered if it was his daily ritual. And then I wondered, how much the beer cost when he was my age. I wondered, how he had reacted to beer taxes (light paternalism) [1] over the years. I wondered at all of the changes in his country during his lifetime. I wondered, what goes through his mind when he compares Singapore today to the Singapore of his youth?

[1] The excise tax on beer is S$3.50 per liter (it's S$70 per liter of pure alcohol). That's about USD$0.70 per 12-oz beer. There's also 7% GST (goods and services tax) and a customary 10% restaurant service charge.