The rising cost of food instantly becomes the overbearing central theme, whenever the topic of 'cost of living' crops up.
Whether at a high-level meeting among policymakers, researchers or small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, this subject of rising cost of food is inevitable.
Not just that, any regular Ali, Ravi and Ah Chongs have resigned to the fact that their plates of noodles and kopi O' have become so costly, these days.
In a nutshell, 'mamak' or 'nasi kandar' restaurants have become the benchmark of how consumers measure the hike in food price.
With the recent revelation by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) on the ever-decreasing value of consumers' purchasing power -- propelled by stagnant wage growth and inflation -- it would be inappropriate not to seek a proper explanation for this upward trend.
According to the Head of Agriculture and Food Policy Laboratory at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Dr Mohd Yusof Saari, the real 'culprit' lies in the form of structural inconsistency and weakness in the market.
Market structure, he said has created monopoly among big firms, for some their daily dosage of teh tarik, is a thing of the past.
"To be exact, the real problem with our market structure is monopoly. For instance, when it comes to food, small and medium-sized food enterprises depend on a small number of big firms for their fresh produce and ingredients.
"And these big firms are controlling the retail trade, including wholesale, which is a big component in the industry's value chain. There is definitely no synergy in there.
"When these few big firms determine the price of goods, they also have control over the amount of supply in the market, which explains why Malaysia sometimes experience shortage of particular food items," he added.
He also said that the government can intervene, if it wants to, through a market-based approach.
"There is actually no need for the government to subsidise food items anymore. All they have to do is liberalise the market. For instance, if there are four main companies who import flour into the country, the government should allow liberalisation of the market for SMEs have the chance to import, too.
"When the market is liberalised, it becomes competitive and the price of goods will go down automatically without the government having to spend anything. What's happening in the market now is the direct impact of monopoly and it is constantly pushing the SMEs into a corner," he explained.
When it come to the discussion on food price increase, Yusof said that any average Joes are caught in a web of misconception that puts the blame on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
"When it was calculated on paper, the implementation of GST was supposed to cause a slight decrease in the price of goods but instead the price went up and at some instances, ridiculously so.
"That is the effect of a weak and problematic market structure. Aside from the fact that it is hampering good policies from doing its job to help the people, it allows for abuse and misinterpretation," he said.
On the economical side, the cost of production and import capabilities was maimed by the devaluation of the Malaysian Ringgit caused by the plummeting price of crude oil globally.
Yusof said other inflationary factors, including the implementation of GST and minimum wage in April, 2015 that shook domestic economy to the extent that producers were forced to turn to consumers to absorb the added costs.
He opined that the establishment of Malaysian Competition Commission (MCC) (2011) and the Competition Act in 2010, further aggravated the effects brought about by the weakening market structure.
"We seemed to aspire towards market liberalisation by decreasing certain subsidies. But, we still have exceptions for certain industries (electricity, communication and F&B) that are controlled by monopoly. This policy mismatch is further distressing the SMEs industry.
"Even though the increase of price is comparatively normal at 3.4 per cent per year, consumers still feel the pinch because wage is not growing at the speed of inflation, especially in the urban area.
"What's truly intriguing is that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated a decrease in the price of food for 2016 because of the crude oil prices but this trend was not observed in Malaysia. The cost of energy was supposed to be cheaper because the cost of production is much lesser but it didn't happen," he said.
He concluded that the outlook for 2016 look gloomy with the price of food expected to experience an increase 'higher than normal'.
Nuradilla Noorazam
Fri Sep 23 2016
Mamak or 'nasi kandar' restaurants have become the benchmark of how consumers measure rising food prices. - File Photo
Kadar capaian internet di sekolah di Melaka memuaskan - Exco
Kerajaan Negeri Melaka akan terus mempertingkatkan kadar capaian internet di semua sekolah termasuk di kawasan luar bandar walaupun kini ia berada pada tahap memuaskan.
AWANI Ringkas: Selesaikan segera isu kewarganegaraan
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Sultan Selangor zahir ucapan takziah kepada keluarga Tun Hanif Omar
Turut menzahirkan ucapan takziah ialah Tengku Permaisuri Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin.
TH anjur Kursus Perdana Haji bermula hari ini hingga 5 Mei 2024
Sepanjang kursus selama satu setengah hari ini, bakal-bakal haji akan melalui praktikal seperti bertawaf, sa'ie, melontar jamrah dan ibadat haji lain secara berkumpulan.
Jenazah Tun Hanif Omar dikebumi di Tanah Perkuburan Islam Bukit Kiara
Jenazah Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar akan dikebumikan di Tanah Perkuburan Islam Bukit Kiara.
Wanita ditahan bantu siasatan kes simbah OKU dengan air panas
Polis menahan seorang wanita bagi membantu siasatan kejadian seorang lelaki sindrom Down melecur pada bahagian badan disyaki akibat disimbah air panas ketika berada di dalam lif.
Kepimpinan MPN PKR Sabah: Tiada nama spesifik dibincangkan - Fahmi
Ketua Penerangan PKR Fahmi Fadzil berkata tiada nama spesifik yang dibincangkan berkaitan kepimpinan Majlis Pimpinan Negeri (MPN) PKR Sabah.
Pemergian Tun Hanif kehilangan buat negara - Musa Hassan
Pemergian bekas Ketua Polis Negara (KPN) Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar adalah satu kerugian buat negara.
Wanita maut, dua lelaki parah kereta langgar pokok
Seorang wanita maut, manakala dua lelaki cedera parah selepas kereta dinaiki mereka terbabas sebelum melanggar sebatang pokok di tepi jalan dalam kemalangan di Jalan Macalister awal hari ini.
Israel perlu waspada jika negara Asia Barat masuk campur
Israel seharusnya mengambil pengajaran daripada konflik dengan Iran supaya tindak bertindak sewenang-wenangnya mencabuli hak rakyat Islam, terutamanya Palestin.