TikTok Influencer Says S’pore is Too Expensive After Spending S$9,090 in 5 Days

Last Updated on 2024-08-02 , 3:47 pm

There are a lot of criticisms of Singapore on TikTok that locals fight back against, but if there’s one complaint everyone agrees with, it’s that Singapore is too expensive.

When American TikTok influencer “@tourdebree” posted a video on how costly her Singapore vacation was, however, netizens were up in arms about it.

Somehow she had gotten Singaporeans against her despite targetting one of the most agreed-upon flaws.

TikTok Influencer Calls Singapore Expensive After Spending S$9,090 in 5 Days

The video was posted a week ago on 25 July, where influencer Bree described five days in Singapore.

After a S$470 flight from Japan, she described her hotel fee as S$1,200 per night, totalling S$6,000 total.

Image: TikTok (@tourdebree)

“Believe it or not, this was on the cheaper side,” she said.

Immediately, this would send alarm bells ringing in the minds of any Singaporean.

The TikTok influencer explained that all the hotels in Singapore are “hella expensive” due to a lack of Airbnb.

TikTok Influencer Claims Expensive S$800 in Singapore Transport Fees

But what about the cost of transportation? Singapore prides itself on cheap and robust public transport, so it seems this should be cost-efficient.

It turned out that she had somehow racked up S$800 in transport fees in just five days, or an average of S$160 a day.

Image: TikTok (@tourdebree)

“My one-way transfer from the hotel to the airport was S$90.” She said, adding that it was just a 20-minute drive.

S$90 for 20 minutes? Did she book a limousine or something?

Then there’s Singapore’s biggest selling point: the food. She paid a total of S$1,500, hammering it home with a photo of a dish of oysters.

Bree claimed that her tuna salad and calamari alone cost S$85. Even the people who complain about cai png prices cannot understand this one.

Image: TikTok (@tourdebree)

Lastly, a trip to Universal Studios Singapore took S$300 out of her bank account.

All of this totalled around S$9,090 in five days.

“Is Singapore worth visiting? Yes! But is it worth the price? No.” She concluded.

Netizens Outraged After TikToker Says She Didn’t Want to Take the Train

Singaporeans were baffled by how fast she burnt through over S$9,000. They quickly noted that the trip was expensive entirely because she had chosen all the expensive options.

Image: TikTok

“Which hotel ya staying?? Gosh…S$1,200 u can get three nights at other hotels,” a netizen wrote.

“Taxi/Grab estimated $40-$50 from [one end to the other] of Singapore, so not sure how you ended up with 20 minutes journey and cost $90.” A confused commenter said.

Bree replied to these criticisms, writing, “I see some Singaporean are mad af in the comments saying they’re cheaper accommodation & food BUT I didn’t want to stay in a hostel or eat at stalls or ride the train tf.”

Image: TikTok

Yes, apologies, Your Majesty, we should not have expected someone of your royal status to take a train or eat at stalls like us peasants.

Some netizens suggested that her attitude was intended as “rage bait” for Singaporeans to generate views.

Image: Reddit

A look at her TikTok page shows most of her videos do very well, but the expensive Singapore TikTok has 142.9k views, while her recent videos rarely hit over 10k views.

A previous Chinese tourist who claimed China was far ahead of Singapore received similar accusations.

If this is the case, then they’ve hit a very effective engagement strategy. After all, Singaporeans love to complain about other’s complaints.