Why are things so pricey in Bintan?

Ok I'm getting off my procrastinating arse and writing about the places I visited!
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To be honest, there's not too much to say about Bintan, Indonesia. I have never been to Indonesia before, and Bintan would not be my first choice place to visit in Indonesia. However, to keep my parents from worrying, I decided on a resort-y locale just a short ferry ride from Singapore. Bintan was definitely a place to relax by the pool and read a book. It was unfortunate that costs in Bintan have been driven up by the Singapore visitors. The food was extremely expensive, as were the activities. Not wanting to spend too much at the beginning of our trip, my friend and I were thrifty and just went on one excursion to a mangrove area. Bintan is also known for their beaches. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and too windy to venture into the ocean. The beaches also weren't very clean when I was there, so I was quite disappointed.

From the rather pleasant mangrove tour. 

As for the food, I had the spiciest meal of my life at the Indonesian restaurant.

I literally could not feel my tongue after this meal. This dish is pretty much a fish dish cooked with this pepper sambal sauce. The rice and shrimp chips were all gone at the end of this meal, as was the Strawberry Fanta (kinda gross) and two glasses of water.

My short time in Bintan (barely 3 days) gave me a small insight into Indonesian culture. The people there are all quite friendly and spoke decent English. Our driver who picked us up to go to the mangroves was very chatty but kept stressing how poor Indonesia is. The same goes for our guide for the mangrove tour. An outsider might feel, well I'm paying quite a bit of money here in Bintan...so how can you be poor? I think as a collective, the nation of Indonesia is poor. In Bintan where tourism thrives from Singapore, the tourism dollars don't seem to have too much local benefits. Sure it provides jobs at hotels and tours, but they aren't highly paid at all.

I wouldn't recommend Bintan as a place to visit unless you lived in Singapore or Malaysia. It was relaxing but I was also slightly bored and irked at the high price of food. The island was a lot larger than I thought and costs of hiring a car and exploring the island is also not suitable for more frugal travelers. My goal of the trip was not really to stay at a resort but to explore and experience the local culture. Definitely did not do too much of that in Bintan.