LOWER income families are being forced to tighten their belts as the cost of living continues to rise, in particular prices of daily foodstuffs and commodities.

Families met by The Malaysian Insight said they are now limiting their kitchen expenses or cutting down on their food intake.

Some, like Nur Shafira Abd Rahim, 36, have even turned to doing three jobs to survive in this tough time.

Nur Shafira said she had to do three part-time jobs to ensure her family of five children can survive, but still only manages to earn between RM200 and RM300 per week.

She said she sells nasi kerabu, buys and delivers household things for people, and does house cleaning to earn her wages.

“Yet it is still not enough because all my children are attending school this year, and the expenses are high.

“I am the sole breadwinner because my husband doesn’t work. He just came out of the rehabilitation centre, so our income depends on me alone.

“That’s why I have to do three jobs as we really need money to continue living,” she said.

She is also worried that the food court where she sells her nasi kerabu may be closing soon.

“If that happens, I will have no place to do business,” she said.

The price of basic foodstuffs has kept increasing in recent months largely due to global problems in logistics and supply chain caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This trend is expected to continue and may see food prices, including essential items, rise by 10-30%.

In recent months, the price of cooking oil has shot up 70%, while prices of other daily necessities and household products have risen by 5% to 10%.

Nur Shafira said she had been forced to cut back, only buying once every two weeks instead of once a week.

“Sometimes I can’t even buy kitchen items because I don’t have money. Usually if the leftover food is not sold out, I will bring it back to eat,” she said.

Buying less

Meanwhile, Foodpanda delivery man, Wan Mohamad Romzi, 33, said his net income has almost halved due to the increase in food prices and the knock-on effect on his industry.

“In the past, I could earn RM2,000 to RM3,000 a month delivering food. Yet over the past couple of months, as all the prices of goods have gone up, my income has been reduced by almost half.

“Many choose not to order food or eat out. If we look at restaurants, they are empty, only lively during this festive period.”

He said he was unable to save, because financially he was just keeping his nose above water.

Chicken trader Hishamuddin Mohamad, 33, said his business was also affected due to the increase in the price of goods.

He said the situation had caused people to start calculating their expenses.

“Doing business now is not like before. Businesses are terribly affected with the declining sales. My capital used to be RM1,000 and my profit was RM100 but now for me it is only RM50.

“The customers are also buying less now. In the past, they bought two or three chickens, but now they buy in pieces,” he said.

“We as traders really can’t do anything as we also buy at higher prices from suppliers.

“It doesn’t make sense why prices of chicken and vegetables rise sharply. When we ask, the suppliers will simply say it is due to shortage,” he said ruefully.

On Monday, the national action council on the cost of living set the maximum price for standard chicken at RM8.90, 20 sen cheaper than the fixed ceiling price of RM9.10.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob also said the price of chicken eggs for all grades will remain the same as currently set under the Keluarga Malaysia maximum price control scheme.

Both will take effect from February 5 until June 5, he said.

Ismail said besides this, import permits for whole chicken are now open to all chicken importers with approved permits (AP).

Previously, only the import of chicken parts such as wings, thigh and others was permitted.

Ismail said the meeting, which focused on short-term solutions to reduce the pressure on rising prices, also agreed for chicken import APs to be opened to hypermarkets, besides also instructing the Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) to conduct investigations on the possibility of cartels working to determine the prices of chicken and eggs. – February 2, 2022.