Paying 70 bucks for the World Cup
As many other Singaporeans, I had been really pissed by the 2 telcos' selfish and utterly despicable behavior by charging Singaporeans one of the most expensive subcriptions fees (for live telecast0 in the world. The fees they are charging is now 7-9 times more than what Starhub charged just 4 years ago. 7 times if you an "early bird" - and they dare call this an "early bird discount"! 9 times if you subscribe a little later on.
I was pretty certain I would not subscribe this time round, as it made no sense if all the matches are telecast live at timings over here, that would make it impossible to watch. I mean, pay 70 bucks just to watch some delayed telecast in the evening? You've got to be kidding!
Yet, as I'd discovered a more recently, some of the matches are actually played at 7:30pm or 10pm Singapore time. Those are pretty good timing, considering most of us office worker are able to knock off from work and be home by around 8pm on most weekdays.
Secondly, a friend advised me - yeah, 70 bucks sounds like a lot, compared to the $10.5 we'd paid just 4 years back for the same thing. But nowadays, a meal in a (not even considered top class) restaurant for 2 could easily cost you that much, or more. Would having that one less restaurant outing make a whole lot of difference, compared to having the convenience of switching on your TV (in the comfort of your home) to sit engrossed in 2 hours of pulsating, good football action?
That sounded pretty logical to me.
But then, not every family in singapore can afford that one restaurant meal, even once in a month (or longer). $70-$95 could possibly last a small family of 4 a whole week, if they buy groceries from the wet market, and cook simple meals everyday. Compare THAT to watching some frivolous (and freaking rich!) fellas kicking a ball round a grassy field for 90 min - majority of whom wont even know of a country called Singapore! - and then you'd find it really IS very expensive indeed.
It simply goes to show how wide the income gap has become in this country....
I was pretty certain I would not subscribe this time round, as it made no sense if all the matches are telecast live at timings over here, that would make it impossible to watch. I mean, pay 70 bucks just to watch some delayed telecast in the evening? You've got to be kidding!
Yet, as I'd discovered a more recently, some of the matches are actually played at 7:30pm or 10pm Singapore time. Those are pretty good timing, considering most of us office worker are able to knock off from work and be home by around 8pm on most weekdays.
Secondly, a friend advised me - yeah, 70 bucks sounds like a lot, compared to the $10.5 we'd paid just 4 years back for the same thing. But nowadays, a meal in a (not even considered top class) restaurant for 2 could easily cost you that much, or more. Would having that one less restaurant outing make a whole lot of difference, compared to having the convenience of switching on your TV (in the comfort of your home) to sit engrossed in 2 hours of pulsating, good football action?
That sounded pretty logical to me.
But then, not every family in singapore can afford that one restaurant meal, even once in a month (or longer). $70-$95 could possibly last a small family of 4 a whole week, if they buy groceries from the wet market, and cook simple meals everyday. Compare THAT to watching some frivolous (and freaking rich!) fellas kicking a ball round a grassy field for 90 min - majority of whom wont even know of a country called Singapore! - and then you'd find it really IS very expensive indeed.
It simply goes to show how wide the income gap has become in this country....
posted by 北海道的大黑熊 at 1:24 PM
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