Chong said he is penny-pinching to pay for the wedding expenses and the couple’s matrimonial home.
The Singapore PR, who used to live in Kuala Lumpur, told The New Paper: “I’ve sold my car and stopped buying gadgets to save up.
“If I wasn’t saving for our wedding and flat, I would have bought an iPad and a digital SLR camera.”
The couple now shares usage of Miss See’s car.
These days, Chong spends not more than $20 a day, down from $40 in the past.
This is because he and Miss See have cut down on their movie outings.
He has also adopted a new tactic when it comes to shopping for clothes.
“I now buy during sales and every item costs less than $50. I also accumulate the points on my credit cards and telco bills, and exchange them for shopping vouchers from Topshop or Zara,” he said.
In the past, he admitted he would have let those points expire without using them.
Chong said in total, he hopes to raise about $23,000 for the wedding.
Sponsors
He has found sponsors for the bridal outfits from a bridal boutique in Johor Baru, the wedding invitations and also a photographer and videographer for the wedding day.
He will pay for the rest – such as the wedding dinner and bridal photos. Chong said he has about $15,000 and that he has a long way to go.
“I used to spend my money however I like. But now, money is becoming more and more scarce,” he moaned.
“I’m short of about $9,000 now. But maybe I’ll be able to pay for the wedding dinner with the red packets from my guests.”
The couple has also hit a snag buying a flat.
Both are Singapore PRs – Miss See is from Johor Baru – so they can buy only resale flats.
Chong hopes to live close to the MediaCorp office at Andrew Road. The couple have seen more than 30 flats in the past four months at estates like Toa Payoh, Bishan, Balestier, Whampoa, Sin Ming and Cambridge Road.
But the main problem is the high price – up to half a million dollars for a four-room flat.
He said: “My budget for a flat was initially $300,000, then it rose to $400,000. But it seems now that I have to increase it again to $500,000.
“I’d most probably have to pay a cash deposit upfront of $25,000.
“If that’s the case, I may have to borrow money from relatives.”
This article was first published in The New Paper.
Mind you, you don't have to be caucasion to eat hamburger, I am just quoting example, and there are chinese couples these days indicating on their invitation card: "if you are pondering for a gift, cash is perferred" . Look around you how many Chinese these days do thing the western style.
What is wrong with sharing wedding expense figure? Many people do that, share with friends and relative how much it cost their wedding. Are you married? Have you gone through before? Guess not, otherwise you will understand what he's going through. I hope when the day comes for you, you will say sorry for saying all you said here. He is not the first or only one to share wedding expense amount publicly, mind you.
He is just a very typical human in Singapore, with all .....
80% of the middle class singaporean have to live like this...
and a large majority of us have to eat coffee shop everyday, or rather is this report implying most of the mediacorp artist dun eat @ coffeeshop and save up? ervyone of them is eating restaurant everyday...
please dun make it sound like a sad story and so poor thing.....a large percentage of the commonfolks are living this sort of life while some others are not even able to afford the luxury of eating out everyday and driving a car around...
And a warning: do not depend on friends and relatives to give you a big hong bao just because you throw an expensive dinner. Guests normally give .....
he did not list his preferred wedding gifts but his wedding
expenses. What's the meaning of that??
I agree with Pushkin62 & sureerat_tang, go simple then.
And Italian restaurant = not even a big banquet.Do you expect his guests to turn up at his wedding dinner empty handed? Do you do that? It is typical in Singapore here to give ang bao equivalent or more to cover the cost of dinner. Only the rich and filthy rich don't need that and will receive rubbish gifts.
I wish you people would stop shaming a very normal typical Singapore groom. When come your time, you will know how tough it is