Much has been said about Minister Lim Hng Kiang and his reponse to the issue of high inflation rate in recent times. Please refer to the views of experts for more info, while I try to provide some background information here before I give my 2 cents worth.

The cost of living has been increasing, and when questioned about it, Mr Lim said

Switching to cheaper products can reduce the cost of living despite a rise in the CPI

As many have said, switching to cheaper products doesn't reduce the cost of living. It reduces the standard of living, which cost less to maintain. If I used to live in 5 room flat, and I changed to a 3 room, it cost less for me, but my standard of living is lower. Same if I used to eat at meat with rice, I can switch to beansprouts with porridge.

What I am disturbed about is this, isn't it the government's duty to increase the standard of living for the citizens? Why are we paying our ministers a world-class ministerial salary to tell us to lower our standard of living?