The parliamentary special select committee report found that while the government’s initiative to organise events that offer food, clothing and daily essentials at a lower price is not the long-term solution because it does not address the root cause of the problem. — The Star/ANN Photo

PETALING JAYA – A parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) has drawn up recommendations to the government to ease the rising cost of living issue, with monopolies and cartels said to be among the main reasons behind the increased prices of goods.

It also said the minimum wage of RM1,700 should be reviewed on an annual basis, and that the move to have periodical sales of essential items for the low- and middle- income groups is only a temporary relief.

Bank Negara Malaysia estimated in 2018 that the living wage in the Klang Valley would be RM2,700.

“Malaysia is among the countries with a low cost of living whereby it is still cheap to live in this country.

“However, the real problem is that the income per capita is still low,” said the report by the PSSC on Domestic Trade, Entrepreneurship, Cost of Living and Agriculture tabled in the Dewan Rakyat recently.

“The cost of living issue is burdening Malaysians, particularly the lower and middle income earners. Although they are not included in the hardcore poor category, many feel that their income is not enough to cover daily expenses.”

It found that while the government’s initiative to organise events that offer food, clothing and daily essentials at a lower price is not the long-term solution because it does not address the root cause of the problem.

According to the report, monopolies and cartels are among the main reasons behind the rising cost of goods.

The bodies which were present at the PSSC meetings include the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, the Statistics Department, Malaysia Co-Operative Societies Commission and Malaysian Inclusive Development and Advancement Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia or Minda-UKM.

Minda-UKM director Prof Tan Sri Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali argued that income levels are not catching up with the cost of living.

“If the price and income go up in tandem, we shouldn’t have any issue. The problem, however, is when the two are not the same,” said Noor Azlan who is the director of the Malaysian Inclusive Development and Advancement Institute of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

He stressed on the need to come up with fair prices and higher incomes.

“The goal is not to make it cheap. Many people think that the best the government can do towards alleviating the cost of living is reducing prices, or even better for free. However, it only resolves the problem temporarily,” he added.

He also cited examples of prices going up for the right reasons, like fish during monsoon seasons and beef during the Hari Raya celebrations.

“It’s during these times that farmers can get better prices. We want to help the poor and the poor are farmers. But when prices go up, we say control it. That’s strange, isn’t it?” he added.

Other proposals from the PSSC committee to tackle the cost of living issue include the setting up of a Coop Mart in every Parliamentary constituency,

“Cooperative movements should be made into a main platform to help the government overcome cost of living issues,” it said. The inflation rate should remain within the 2 per cent and 3.5 per cent range, it added. — The Star/ANN