You unwrap the brown paper and find a pyramid of rice so small it looks like a snack for a toddler. The hard-boiled egg, which is usually cut in half or sometimes quartered, is now cut into a one-eighth piece. As for the ikan bilis? I counted three.
On paper, the Malaysian economy is doing great. If you listen to the experts, our GDP is growing, and our inflation is under control. But as I stared at my three lonely bilis, I realised we are living in the era of “Shrinkflation”.
The problem with big economic numbers is that they don’t eat at the warung. A politician can stand at a podium and say the economy is resilient, but they aren’t the ones trying to feed a family on a budget that hasn’t changed while the grocery bag gets lighter every week.
Look at the latest data from the Statistics Department. Their recent Basic Expenditure for Decent Living Index revealed...