KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — DAP MP Lim Lip Eng stuck to his guns today in claiming that the government’s “1 Malaysia” goods are more expensive than other brands, dismissing last night’s denial by Mydin managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin.
The Segambut MP even posed a challenge to Ameer, whose company operates the government-backed Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia (KR1M), to prove how many products under the “1 Malaysia” brand are cheaper than those sold at other chains.
Lim pointed out that in his response yesterday, Ameer had only rebutted one of the examples he had provided earlier when comparing KR1M goods with other brands.
“Most of KR1M stores’ goods are more expensive,” Lim insisted to Malay Mail Online over the phone.
“Can (Mydin) show to Malaysian consumers how many common goods are cheaper in KRIM?” he asked.
Yesterday, Lim had alleged that “1 Malaysia” goods are pricier than others, after comparing prices for a range of consumer goods between a KR1M store and popular hypermarket chain Tesco.
He also sent photos to Malay Mail Online to illustrate the apparent price discrepancy.
One photo showed a bottle of a one litre bottle of bleach priced at RM1.29 at Tesco, but at RM2.60 at the KR1M.
Another showed a one litre bottle of dishwashing liquid priced at RM1.99 at Tesco, but at RM2.90 at the KR1M.
A 700-gram bottle of Nestle strawberry yoghurt drink was shown to be RM4.79 at Tesco, but RM5.20 at KR1M.
Other photographs provided by Lim similarly showed higher prices at KR1M stores, including bottles of Maggi chili sauce, cans of Campbell’s mushroom soup, cans of Ayam Brand sardines, and packets of vermicelli noodles.
In his response last night, Ameer singled out Lim’s bleach bottle comparison, saying the federal lawmaker had wrongly compared a KR1M product containing 5.25 per cent sodium hypochlorite priced at RM2.60 with a Tesco Everyday Value bleach containing 4.25 per cent sodium hypochlorite priced at RM1.29.
Ameer said the comparison should have been made with Tesco Choice bleach instead as it has the same hypochlorite content, but is sold at RM3.05, higher than KR1M’s RM2.60.
The Mydin head also accused Lim of misleading the public.
In his allegations yesterday, Lim had also issued a 24-hour deadline to Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to state if he plans on calling for a boycott of KR1M goods due to its high prices.
Noting that Ismail has yet to respond, Lim said shows the minister’s previous call on Malay consumers to boycott Chinese-owned businesses for indiscriminately raising prices was “a racial provocation aimed at increasing his own political mileage, and not at all about the difficulties of consumers.”
Two weeks ago, Ismail Sabri sparked a firestorm of protest over his Facebook post urging Malay consumers to boycott allegedly profiteering Chinese businesses.
The minister added that the high price of goods, despite the dip in fuel costs, was a form of sabotage aimed at stirring public dissent against the government.
Ismail Sabri later said he was not directing his words at the Chinese community, but merely to unscrupulous Chinese businesses that have been indiscriminately raising their prices and keeping costs high.
The minister has since deleted the Facebook post, and Putrajaya issued a statement to “clarify” that the minister was referring to all unscrupulous traders and not only to those of Chinese descent.
KR1M was established as part of a government initiative to address the increasing cost of living among poorer urban residents.
According to its official website, KRIM stores are “based on a mini-market format” and “provide various basic necessities at low prices in convenient urban locations.”
