Imported cooking oils are alternatives if the price of locally produced cooking oil made from palm oil is hiked.
KUCHING: Consumers and retailers have mixed feelings on the price hike of petrol and cooking oil and many are voicing their dissatisfaction.
For the retailers, they are all waiting for the cooking oil manufacturers to inform them of the new price list for different volume packaging.
“We are waiting for the bomb to drop (detailed instructions) from manufacturers before making our move to change the price,” said a spokesperson of a prominent supermarket chain in the city yesterday.
“So far, there hasn’t been any price increase and I expect the consumers will react accordingly,” he added.
He said when there was a hike in petrol prices the cost of transportation would inadvertently increase and this in turn would increase the prices of all other goods including consumer goods.
“This is unavoidable and the hardest hit will be the consumers,” he said.
He said there were definitely whispers in the grapevines about the price hike of cooking oil and petrol but there was no instruction from the authority yet.
“When there is a hike in prices of basic necessities like flour, sugar, eggs, rice and cooking oil, people will suffer. We dont want them to suffer but we have to sustain our business.”
A hawker named Ah Chong (not his real name) who uses palm oil to fry his noodle said: “If there is no more subsidy for cooking oil my business will be badly affected. I have to look for solution. But where?
“I maintain the price of my noodles at RM5 per bowl (RM6 for special) but if the price of non-subsidised cooking oil were to go up can I afford to hike my prices?”
Ah Chong said this would certainly not be good for his business and his regular customers.
Technician Shukry Razak said with the hike in petrol and cooking oil prices, there would be less family gatherings from now on.
“There are nine of us in the family and we gather almost every weekend at our parents’ house. It has always been our habit that my mother cooks for us but with this price hike thing we will try to cut on everything.”
Shukry said her mother had already moaned over the prices of goods and there would be more ‘moans’ from her and my father if they could not see us often during weekends.
“I suppose we have to be smart consumers now and look for alternatives. If the price of locally produced cooking oil is almost the same as imported oil, I think I will go for imported ones because they are healthier as claimed.
“Maybe, we will have to think of new ways to cook our food and use less oil. I cannot imagine the impact on retail shops when less people go there to buy local cooking oil,” he said.
Winnie Thien, a shop assistant and a mother of twin, said she and her husband had to have priorities and the first thing on their mind was the children’s milk and their caretaker.
“We need to be wise consumers and the burden will always be there for everybody,” she said.
Winnie wanted a more caring government taking care of the economy and to make sure the people were not facing hardship.
“My other worry is next year when the twins, now five, are going to preschool,”she sighed.
A telecommunication store retail owner named Bit (not real namer) said there were so many rumours flying around of cooking oil price hike and even LPG cylinders.
“The business community like us work our butts out but we can barely survive. I do not know when we will have to close shops,” he lamented.
Bit however said he had to be resilient and a smart consumer and focus on how to overcome obstacles and take more responsibilities to face the hard time.