Say goodbye to cheap goreng pisang, satay in Malaysia next year

KUALA LUMPUR — Simple pleasures like a hot, crispy goreng pisang could cost more next year, as petty food traders grapple not only with the goods and services tax (GST) introduced in April this year, but also the recent string of price hikes, such as toll rates in the Klang Valley going up between 10 sen (3 cents) and RM6 (S$1.96).

So as not to burden customers with a sharp increase in prices, food traders have absorbed much of the cost but may no longer be able to do so when 2016 rolls around.

Snack seller Nik Azura Abu Bakar, 49, of Taman Bukit Angkasa Pantai Dalam will stop selling chendol at her stall next year as a cost-saving measure.

She has also increased the price of her goreng pisang (fried banana in Malay), charging RM1 for three pieces instead of four previously.

She has kept the price of her keropok lekor at RM1 for five slices despite the wholesale cost going up by 10 sen per piece.

“They (customers) understand the price increase but it is us who have to figure out ways to manage the cost,” said the mother of three.

Ms Nik Azura, who operates her stall with her husband and three daughters, said it was fortunate that there was a Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia nearby where she could purchase cooking oil at a subsidised price.

“As traders, we must continue to sustain ourselves. Business must continue,” she said.

Satay seller, Mr Mohd Farize Jaafar, 58, from Bazaria Pantai, Pantai Dalam, shared the same sentiment.

Mr Farize did not discount the possibility that the price for a stick of grilled meat, already raised from 70 sen to 80 sen after Hari Raya Aidilfitri this year, would increase again in 2016 if the cost of raw materials went up.

“We will have to look at the cost prices, if it increases, we have to follow suit. If it is still affordable as it is now, we will maintain it.

“Profits are not as high as it used to be.”

Mr Farize used to run his own satay business, which he started in 2008 but since 2011, he has been running his brother’s stall instead.

“Beef used to be RM15.50 per kg but now between RM22 and RM23 per kg.

“A sack of 5kg groundnuts used to be between RM27 and RM28, but is now RM32,” he said, adding that he usually purchased raw materials from a supermarket along Jalan Kuchai Lama.

Regulars at his stall are usually told in advance about price increases, he said.

“Others will ask us the price before buying,” he said.

A tom yam seller in Brickfields, who only wanted to be known as Boy, complained that the items required to make his spicy Thai dishes, such as chicken, rice, beef, eggs and spices, have all gone up although he buys from the Selayang wholesale market.

“Today, RM500 may not even be enough for a day’s ingredients.

“We also find it hard to raise our food prices as our customers are mostly regulars.”

Ms Maimunah Ali, 30, who manages a 24-hour food outlet at Jalan Pantai Murni, Kerinchi, had a more stoic view of price hikes.

“Smaller profits are okay, as long as we can continue to do business,” she said, adding that the owner of the outlet she ran did not mind a smaller margin so that customers did not have to suffer price hikes. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER