Air conditioned wet market a value added place with increased item pricing

I hope that Singapore will not phase out the good old day wet market which is a place of bargains for cheap and fresh goods. They are fresh because the goods are bought instantly by buyers everyday. They are cheap because the rent to the wet market isn't expensive and hence not factored into the item to off-set expenses.

When I heard that Singapore will phase out old markets and add value to the place by transforming wet markets into pleasant air-conditioned place, my first thought was, "value addition will translate into higher rent for sellers, and that will translate into higher prices for the items in store". Please tell me I'm wrong.

When I looked at Kopitiam, the good old kopi tiam was way cheaper than the Kopitiam franchise. Now, getting a cup is not as good as last time. Rent up, food price up.

Anyway, it's better than eating at Shopping Malls. The minimum price for a set meal at these places is no less than sgd 5.00 (McChicken set at McD is around that value). Fortunately, we still can have a nasi lemak, chicken rice and mee hoon at sgd 2.20 at stores in major MRT stations.

It's good that there are many shopping malls and air-conditioned eateries (and wet markets), I hope that there will also be allocation for an affordable good old (and hygienic of course) places where we can still get goods such as vegetables and meat, and have a cuppa and breakfast or lunch at affordable prices. Let the goods and food be reflected by the market price of the goods per se rather than it being due to the ballooning price of rents.

I won't mind visiting air-con markets once in a while, but having a good old wet market would still be great to find fresh veggies, fruits, and meat at cheap price.

Just a thought.