Which popular cafe chain offers the most value for money kaya toast set? We tried them all out
The cost of living in Singapore is a much talked-about topic in 2024, and it’s not hard to see why. Due to inflation and GST hikes, dining out is now less easy on the wallet.
A common grouse is that eateries have increased their prices – some significantly – despite offering the same food portions or less. “Value-for-money” is now as much a buzzword as safe distancing during the pandemic years. On the flip side of things, F&B owners are also grappling with rising overheads, which necessitates a price increase.
One particularly sore point for some diners literally involves their bread and butter: The humble kaya butter toast set that’s pretty much Singapore’s national breakfast. We remember a time when you could order a set for under S$5, but that’s mostly no longer the case now.
If you are reconsidering splurging on your kaya butter toast breakfast these days, 8days.sg has done the legwork of visiting five different cafe chains that specialise in it in order to compare the prices and food that you get from each brand.
HOW WE DID IT
In order to ensure as much consistency as possible and that we are not comparing heartland standards to the CBD, we visited all five cafe outlets only in the same Jurong area (Jurong Point/ Westgate/ Ng Teng Fong General Hospital).
As an anonymous customer, we bought the most basic kaya butter toast set, which comes with two soft-boiled eggs and our choice of coffee or tea.
We then grade how value-for-money the set is according to these criteria, with five stars being the most bang for the buck:
- Food and drink portions
- Amount of kaya and butter given
- Taste
1. HEAVENLY WANG
Outlet: Ng Teng Fong General Hospital
Price: S$5.70
Security firms welcome diverse pool for auxiliary police officers, but say hiring locals still a priority
HIRING LOCALS STILL PRIORITY
Security companies said that while expanding recruitment to other jurisdictions could help ease the labour strain, their immediate priority is attracting more Singaporeans to take up the job.
“We will continue to make efforts to attract and mature our local talent – that’s where our focus really lies,” said Ms Ong.
“We want to take steps to engage Singaporeans, and give them a good career that is really attractive and stable.”
The firm said it has put in place competitive remuneration packages and various bonuses and incentives, as well as initiating training and development programmes, in an effort to entice more Singaporeans to join its ranks.
An analyst said hiring locally could in turn translate to better training quality, and increase the momentum in the industrial transformation map for the security industry.
“The more we try to attract locals, the likelihood is that the quality of (APOs) that we (hire) from other countries will also go up because we need to put in more screening and training,” said Associate Professor Razwana Begum, head of the Public Safety and Security Programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
“There will also be greater focus on upscaling and upskilling, and in terms of how we project and market such roles. In general, we are likely to move towards having a profession that will be of a better quality and with greater oversight.”
BTS members RM and V graduate from basic military training in South Korea as âelite traineesâ
Members of K-pop supergroup BTS RM and V have completed their basic military training in South Korea – and they’ve certainly done so in style, graduating as “elite trainees” under the 27th Recruit Training Regiment.
RM, whose real name is Kim Nam-joon, took to Instagram on Tuesday (Jan 16) to share photos of himself and fellow BTS member V, whose real name is Kim Tae-hyung, in their military uniforms. With the caption “Loyalty”, the post also included a picture the award he received.
The honour was only given to six out of 200 trainees for displaying exemplary skills during the five-week training period. The duo enlisted in the military on Dec 11 last year.
According to news agency Yonhap, RM and V’s training comprised basic combat and defense skills at the Korea Army Training Centre in Nonsan, located south of Seoul.
The two have earned the rank of private – and as elite trainees, they were rewarded vacation days.
1337 Ventures announces new cohort of Alpha Startups for women in Southeast Asia
Winners will receive up to US$10,600 in equity funding
Aims to empower women entrepreneurs in Malaysia & Southeast Asia
1337 Ventures’ Alpha Startups™ is launching a new cohort exclusively for women-led startups. In a statement, the pre-accelerator programme said this initiative, in collaboration with Freda Liu, a respected Malaysian author, broadcast journalist, and…Continue Reading
China’s population drops for 2nd year, raises long-term growth concerns
BEIJING: China’s population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a plunging birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy’s growth potential.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 2.75 million to 1.409 billion in 2023, a faster decline than in 2022, which was the first since 1961 during the Great Famine of the Mao Zedong era.
China experienced a dramatic nationwide COVID-19 surge early last year after three years of tight screening and quarantine measures kept the virus largely contained until authorities abruptly lifted curbs in December 2022.
The country’s birth rate has been plummeting for decades as a result of the one-child policy implemented from 1980 to 2015 and its rapid urbanisation during that period. As with earlier economic booms in Japan and South Korea, large populations moved from China’s rural farms into cities, where having children is more expensive.
Further denting appetite for baby-making in 2023, youth unemployment hit record highs, wages for many white-collar workers fell, and a crisis in the property sector, where more than two-thirds of household wealth is stored, intensified.
The fresh data adds to concerns that the world’s No 2 economy’s growth prospects are diminishing due to fewer workers and consumers, while the rising costs of elderly care and retirement benefits put more strain on indebted local governments.
India surpassed China as the world’s most populous nation last year, according to estimates by the United Nations, fuelling more debate over the merits of relocating some China-based supply chains to other markets, especially as geopolitical tensions rise between Beijing and Washington.
Long-term, UN experts see China’s population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.
China’s retirement-age population, aged 60 and over, is expected to increase to more than 400 million by 2035 – more than the entire population of the United States – from about 280 million people currently.
The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035.
China’s birth rate last year was 6.39 births per 1,000 people, down from a rate of 6.77 births in 2022 and marking the lowest birth rate on record. Japan’s rate was 6.3 births per 1,000 people in 2022, while South Korea’s was 4.9.
China’s 2023 rate of 7.87 deaths per 1,000 people, was up from a rate of 7.37 deaths in 2022, making it the highest since 1974 during the Cultural Revolution.
China’s Q4 GDP grows 5.2 per cent year on year, below market forecast
BEIJING: China’s economy grew 5.2 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday (Jan 17), missing analysts’ expectations slightly but still ensuring Beijing met its annual growth target despite a shaky start to the year. Confounding most analysts’ expectations, the world’s second-largest economyContinue Reading
South Korea prepares financial package for stock investors, small businesses
SEOUL: South Korea’s government said on Wednesday (Jan 17) it plans to implement a package of financial policies to support stock investors and small business owners squeezed by high-interest rates. The financial support measures come three months ahead of the country’s general elections and as the president holds a seriesContinue Reading
China’s December new home prices fall at fastest pace in nearly 9 years
In addition, Beijing and Shanghai relaxed their home purchase restrictions in mid-December, including by lowering the minimum down payment ratio for first and second homes. However, these measures have failed to boost home buying sentiment as the sector has been deeply mired in a property correction since 2021. Of theContinue Reading
Korean singer-actress IU to perform at the Singapore Indoor Stadium for 2 nights in April
Pre-sale dates and ticket prices have not been announced.
The singer’s last concert in Singapore was in December 2019, where she performed two sold-out shows for Love, Poem.
IU debuted as a singer in 2008 and was recently named as the highest-ranked Korean artist on Rolling Stone’s 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. She is known for her hit songs Good Day, You & 1 and Palette.
As an actress, she’s starred in hit shows such as Dream High, Hotel Del Luna, My Mister and Dream.
China scientists clone first rhesus monkey using new method
Scientists in China on Tuesday (Jan 16) announced that they have cloned the first healthy rhesus monkey, a two-year-old named Retro, by tweaking the process that created Dolly the sheep. Primates have proved particularly difficult to clone, and the scientists overcame years of failure by replacing the cloned cells thatContinue Reading