YOURSAY ‘I dare the ministry take on the huge corporations...’
Restaurant with 'roti canai telur' at RM2.50 raided
Pemerhati: This is sheer stupidity or harassment by the enforcement agency. Food and beverage sellers in Malaysia can charge whatever they feel like charging as there is no law that controls the price of these items.
Due to competition, the businesses have to charge reasonable prices so as to remain in business because if they charge too high a price then they will lose customers to their competitors and go out of business.
Hmmmmmmmm: If a person opens a restaurant and feels that his roti telur tastes heavenly, why shouldn't he charge RM10 each for it?
If customers don't agree with the restaurant owner’s opinion, they can always eat at other restaurants. So why the need for a raid?
While you can put a price on the ingredients, you cannot put a price on quality. If your roti telur looks burnt and tastes awful, customers won't come even if you charge RM0.50 each. This is called a free-market system.
Anonymous_1393313516: Indeed, I don't understand why the enforcement officers need to do a raid. If the restaurant owner wants to increase the price of roti canai, let him do it.
Don't tell me as an entrepreneur, he does not have the freedom to do his business. As a consumer you make the decision. If the roti canai is expensive, don't eat it. It is that simple.
Wira: Can someone please name the restaurant? This information is useful to consumers. No one wants to be cheated... not even once. I agree this is a free market.
However, let consumers be warned that those who prefer to be ripped off do so with open eyes.
Ferdtan: I’m not too sure of whether the restaurant has broken any law. I would have thought that pricing of food in eating shops are not controlled.
Is there any section under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 whereby traders cannot raise their prices?
I am not defending the errant restaurateurs. Food items in restaurants are not controlled items to the extent that you need the ministry’s approval before you can increase prices. Most probably, they can be arrested for not displaying the new prices.
We hope Penang Enforcement Division of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry can clarify whether they have the right to stop traders from increasing prices.
This is to educate us, consumers, and not simply pin the blame of the price increases on errant traders instead of the government which is responsible for the new Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Debater: Although I do not like profiteering, I oppose this government action because it is interfering in the free market and introducing more bureaucracy. Let market forces do the job.
If they increase the price to an extent that their customers don't feel it is worth it, their business will decline. If the customers complain about high prices and yet keep patronising these stalls, then perhaps they actually feel that it is worth the price.
It is just like a Louis Vuitton bag, which sells for thousands of ringgit, but a RM50 bag can do the job as well. It’s a personal choice.
Anonymous_1421406986: Do not let the over-pricing restaurants or shops go free that easily. The Enforcement Division must be bold enough to name the restaurant so that people will stop patronising such restaurants.
While a country like Thailand parades drug dealers and other criminals before the news media, our country allows them to be shrouded from foot to the head. Of course, we may argue that the law must first find them guilty.
These murderers, drug pushers, gangsters, road racers, snatch thieves, price hikers, corrupt government officers and politicians, are all the same - they are not bothered about the difficulties of ordinary Malaysians trying to make ends meet.
2Kali5: This is outright bullying. I dare the ministry take on the huge corporations if you got guts.
My golf club has not only recently raised the price of roti canai from RM7 to RM10, but the serving has shrunk. Why don't they go after the club?
Swipenter: RM2.50 for a roti telur is not excessively overpriced. One half-boiled egg in a coffee shop already costs RM1.20. If you factor in other costs like flour, oil, gas, rent, labour, service, etc, how much is their profit margin?
Anonymous #45522856: Indeed, anti-profiteering act should be used against Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and the sugar refineries for making excessive profits.
Ksn: The businessmen have abused, exploited the situation using the GST as an excuse. It is the poor who are very badly affected. Who is responsible?
Not Convinced: In the ‘City of God’, St Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great, who asked him, “How dare you molest the sea?”
“How dare you molest the whole world?” the pirate replied. “Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an emperor.”
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