By Mimi Chih
Thank you for putting my article online.
The reason I enclosed those photos was to drive home the point how much more expensive those same items are in Malaysia. If you go back to Sarawak, they are even more expensive. e.g. even after conversion to RM, it is still more expensive in Malaysia e.g. Yoplait yogurt is SGD7.05 while in KL it is at least RM22, Farmhouse milk is 2 litres for SGD4.85…in KL it is RM10 per litre. Did you see how much the US imported cereals are selling for in Malaysia?
As for simple foods, look at how cheap it is, especially when you are earning SGD. You can still get kopi si peng is still SGD90 cents.
That is the reason why my niece sent out her resumes so many times since last year. She finally got a job in Oct, 2011 as an auditor (2 years experience). Her salary is gross SGD2600. When she earned RM2850 at Ernst & Young, she would never eat at Starbuck, didn’t even dare to look at Farmhouse milk or SPAM luncheon meat, and definitely, would never indulge in Yoplait yogurt. She is now able to enjoy all of those and more and she can send home SGD300. Her parents had to subsidize her when she was in KL even though she lived frugally. Wait till I send it the article about the super efficient MRT, feeder bus and bus system in Singapore. Would you believe that it can cost SGD2 cents (yes, SGD2 cents) for certain routes? Would you believe for SGD80 a month, they can get practically all the channels that we have on ASTRO? Plus, the transmission doesn’t get interrupted when the sky becomes cloudy.
This is what Malaysia’s politicians need to be talking about…bringing benefits to the people. What have they been doing with the rakyat’s money? If economies of scale can be achieve with a 5.18 million population why is it not happening in Malaysia? Things should be even cheaper.
Malaysians are being deprived cheaper options to quality foods. In Singapore, people can get cheap and not substandard quality foods.
Is it possible to attach a few of the photos? Without seeing the glaring price disparity, the article wouldn’t drive home the point.