As Singapore holds on to its title as the most expensive city in the world for the 10th time, at least one person isn’t buying in on the hype.

Andrea Fassi, an Italian sales professional living in Singapore, recently took to TikTok to give his two cents about the rising cost of living and why he thinks it isn’t that bad here.

“The reality is, aside from the city centre and certain places, the cost of living, your everyday items are still very affordable for everyone,” he said.

To prove his point, Andrea shared that he had a kopi siew dai (coffee with less sugar and condensed milk) from a coffeeshop for just S$1.

“That’s less than US$0.70. I mean, how much cheaper can it be? Let me answer that for you, it can’t,” he said confidently.

We wonder where he got that S$1 kopi from. 

This writer did a quick check at a nearby coffeeshop nestled among HDB flats and found the same drink costing S$1.40, a 30 per cent price difference.

Andrea did admit that certain things can be expensive in Singapore but overall “the vast majority of people can afford a very decent lifestyle.”

However, it seems his opinion garnered backlash from many Singaporeans who felt the need to school Andrea on the realities of local life, many arguing that as a foreigner, he just won’t feel the same financial pinch.

“There are still people who aren’t earning sky-high salaries,” read one comment, while another netizen chimed in: “We are not earning USD and don’t have minimum wage either”.

Another even cheekily commented: “I don’t live in Singapore just to drink kopi siew dai”.

One commenter even accused Andrea of being planted by the Singapore government to downplay the cost of living.

“Siao ah?”, he hilariously retorted.

Of course, not everyone was against him. Some agreed with his point of view claiming that the same Singaporeans complaining are just living beyond their means.

“They want private condos, luxury cars, fine dining, and overseas trips. Obviously, that’s going to be expensive” read a comment.

Another thanked Andreas for offering perspective and wrote: “Some of us just ignore the fact that inflation is a global situation but blame everything on Singapore”.

One even brutally commented: “As long you don’t drive and stay in a HDB flat, [you] can live decently”.

Photos: Andreafassi/TikTok