After 'girl math' enters 'Singaporean math': Woman lists down quirky spending logic among locals

Hot on the heels of "girl math", a few other iterations have emerged, including one known as "Singaporean math".

TikTok user Jordelia Tan brilliantly decoded Singaporean math in a 40-second video on Nov 1.

@ninjabread_ i do some of them 🫢 #singaporemath #sgtiktok ♬ original sound - jordelia

Following the same concept as "girl math", Singaporean math puts a local spin on quirky spending habits.

For instance, Jordelia mentioned how we're willing to splurge $6 on bubble tea, but when it comes to paying 10 cents for a plastic bag, it's a definite no-go.

The tongue-in-cheek absurdity of "Singaporean math" is further illustrated with another example she provided: "Singaporean math is going to Johor Bahru (JB) to save money but actually spending more than your average daily expenses."

Another scenario involves visiting Don Don Donki after 9pm to take advantage of discounted ready-to-eat food items.

Another example of "Singaporean math" she highlighted involves holding onto our student cards for years after graduating just to continue enjoying student discounts.

Instead of buying water, she also notes how Singaporeans opt for a free cup of water from McDonald's or Starbucks.

Last but not least, Jordelia humorously noted the art of "Singaporean math" when booking a fancy hotel for holidays, which is to make the stay more economical by bringing back home all the toiletries like shampoo and body wash.

AsiaOne has reached out to Jordelia.

It seems netizens felt guilty for but agreed with Jordelia's examples of "Singaporean math" in the comments section.

Some even contributed their own examples of "Singaporean math".

One netizen mentioned how Singaporeans are willing to shell out $140,000 for a Certificate of Entitlement, only to save money by refuelling the car's petrol in JB.

"Girl math" goes viral

The concept of "girl math" gained local attention in September when TikToker Chloe went viral for her tongue-in-cheek video.

In the clip, she used "girl math" to explain how her $3,950 Cartier earrings became "practically free."

Chloe initially aimed for the $5,250 Cartier earrings but compromised on the $3,950 one instead.

Because of settling for the latter, she claimed that she made a profit of $1,300.

She then apparently used $1,000 in mall vouchers, reducing her expenses to $2,950.

She then divided the cost of the pair of earrings by using a "buy one-get-one-free deal."

On top of that, she applied the "cost-per-wear theory," calculating that if she wore the earrings every day for four years, they'd cost her just $1 a day.

But the icing on the cake had to be when she said the earrings were "quite literally free" because she remembered her father's credit card number.

venkat.gunasellan@asiaone.com

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