A recent survey carried out by the Penang Hindu Association (PHA) shows a vast increase in prices of the essential cooking ingredients, namely tamarind, cumin seeds (jeragam), yellow lentil (toor dhal/tovarum parupu), black gram, cashew nuts, almonds, roasted gram (pottu kadal), gingerly oil (nalanei), curry powder (fish and chicken), onions, whole green gram, (pasipayeru), fennel (sombu/perunjeeragam) gram flour (kadalamavu), sago (jawarisi) and pappadam.

The poor are being affected by the sharp price increase of these frequently consumed basic essential items, more people will be living below the poverty line because of the higher cost of living due to the price increase of goods and food.. In addition consumers have to pay another 6 percent for the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The impact of the above on the ordinary man in the street is very scary and pitiful, causing them to forgo the side dishes or at times even the basic dishes.

The price of yellow lentil (toor dhal) has increased from RM5.80 (December 2014) to RM9.50 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015) i.e. a 71.4 percent increase, black gram increased from RM4.00 (December 2014) to RM8.50 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015) i.e. more than double, almonds increased from RM36.00 (December 2014) to RM58.00 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015) i.e. a 62 percent increase, cashew nuts from RM28.00 (December 2014) to RM42.00 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015) i.e. by 67.6 percent, tamarind increased from RM6.00 (December 2014) to RM9.00 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015) i.e a 50 percent increase ,cumin seeds (jeeragam) increased from RM10.50 (December 2014) to RM13.00 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015), curry powder (fish and chicken) increased from RM13.60 (December 2014) to RM15.20 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015), and onions (big) increase from RM1.40 (December 2014) to RM3.00 per kilo (Aug 15, 2015).

We are also burdened by the price hikes in the daily essential items, such as school stationery, school bus transport and bus fares, petrol, electricity, house rental, bank interest and motor spare parts. This has also snowballed to food sold at restaurants and by hawkers.

There are also some importers, manufacturers and companies who invariably to increase profits have reduced the weight of their products instead of increasing the price of the products e.g. the milk powder weight repacked from 1 kilo down to 850 grams.

The poor are suffering daily to purchase daily items for their families, whereas the single-parents’ salaries remain stagnant, which has resulted in some parents asking PHA to help them to send their children to orphanage due to the unmanageable increase in the cost of living.

Consequently PHA provides monthly dry rations (food ration) such as rice, milk powder, mee hoon, cooking oil, sugar, yellow and black gram (dhal) and biscuits to 25 needy families.

PHA strongly urges the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Department to act against the importers, wholesalers and retailers for increasing the prices of the basic essential items, provisions and food prices.

P MURUGIAH is deputy president, Penang Hindu Association.