Red herring

Is the reported high inflation rate in Singapore for real or what? A hawker living in a 3-room public apartment was quoted as saying that he will take the family for a holiday in Thailand with the $900 that he received from the government's Growth and Share giveaway. I would have thought that it would have been more prudent to keep the money aside for a rainy day. Who will believe them now if they complain about inflation? Surely this inflation thingy has been a red herring all along?