M'sian shoppers getting creamed by KR1M

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VOXPOP 'Every 1Malaysia label product is more expensive than Tesco's house label, and other non-house label is market price.'

Kedai 1Malaysia savings claims 'outrageous'

vox populi small thumbnail Wira: KR1M (Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia) is basically an outrageous scheme by another Umno crony to fleece the nation. It is just another hypermarket chain, selling at prices similar to Tesco, Carrefour or Giant for a range of household products.

The 1Malaysia brand name is no different from that offered by manufacturers to other OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers.

The RM40 million subsidy given is simply cash reward for the crony to expand his business using publicity paid for by the public.

Mangodurian: The only way the products can be cheap are that they are either subsidised or that there is a big bulk discount. If KR1M doesn't have either as bargaining chips, then you would wonder the standard of the products.

In China, the range of prices are always there - it's just whether you would end up buying sub-standard or even hazardrous products, or some decent thing.

If the KR1M dishwasher liquid is as good or just slightly inferior to the branded stuff and cheaper, then it's okay. But not if it's cheap and bad.

At the end of the day, KR1M is a business concern. Something tells me, it will just go the way of "we need it to be rescued" one year down the road.

Kgen: Trying to fight the rising cost of living with specially priced grocery shops and restaurants is like trying to shelter a group of people from the pouring rain with a piece of paper.

The real remedy is to lift people's incomes which have stagnated for the past 16 years. This is something Umno is incapable of doing due to structural reasons.

MW: Finally! I been writing to MSM (mainstream media) about this ever since I visited the Kelana Jaya 1Malaysia shop.

Every 1Malaysia label product is more expensive than Tesco's house label, and other non-house label is market price.

The eggs look cheap until I saw the label saying Grade 'D' at RM3.30. Grade D is the smallest, and these eggs are cheaper in the ‘pasar malam'. KR1M is a complete rip-off. It is to hoodwink the non-driving public.

Mahindar Singh: Frankly, this is an election ploy. Does the government need to get involved in these kind of activities?

Surely there are far more strategic issues to be addressed like:

a) educating our minister on what escrow account means

b) improving the education system, which is in shambles

c) eradicating corruption

d) fighting crime

I am sure the Tescos and Carrefours can do a better job KR1M. This reminds me of the Proton project.

Onyourtoes: In fact, there is no need to do any study. Anyone with Economics 101 will know the market economy does not operate this way.

Price, demand and supply are governed by economic laws and theories, not by the dictate of the government.

Competition will ensure that price, demand and supply are equitably determined unless these special shops are subsidised or do not wish to make any profit or are super efficient.

But knowing that all those who run KR1M are nincompoops, I think even with subsidies, they are not able to compete. To assume that they wish to make less money or are more efficient than the established chain, to me, is too far-fetched.

'Trimming civil service will lead to downfall of Malays'

AB Sulaiman: There is an area in the human mind called the comfort zone. This is when an individual finds a little corner for himself providing him and his family with sufficient material and other needs.

He would not venture any further out of this zone in the course of his life. Never mind if this corner or zone happens to be situated right under a coconut shell.

Utusan Malaysia editor Zaini Hassan enjoys seeing his own kinsmen living underneath a coconut shell.

I find people like him protecting his kinsmen's comfort zone distasteful to the extreme. He is encouraging them to carry on sleeping while paradoxically shouting 'Hidup Melayu' and 'Melayu tidak akan hilang di dunia'.

The rest of the highly competitive world as usual and in the meantime runs at great speed into the future.

David Dass: Scaling down the civil service will not result in a huge number of unemployed Malays. It is the responsibility of government to provide its people with employment whether that employment is in the private or public sector.

We have between two to three million (perhaps more) foreign workers in the country. There is no reason for Malaysians to be unemployed. There may be a need for re-training and English-language proficiency. These are good things to do as we become a high-income economy.

The assumption that the Malays will not find jobs in the private sector is false. Malays more than hold their own in the private sector. They are as capable as anyone else. And Malays should be in larger numbers in the private sector picking up skills that would be useful in setting up businesses.

Wira: Give me a reason why a country must have 4.6% of its population working for the government?

Dr Mahathir Mohamad trimmed that through privatisation. Ahmad Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak inflated the civil service as an easy solution to the serious problem of universities churning out graduates, who are not compatible with market requirement.

The civil service definitely needs to be trimmed. However, it will not happen overnight as better long-term policies must be introduced to ensure we produce graduates that are employable by the market. Don't expect BN to do that.

They took the easy way out by opening the flood gates to the civil service. If left uncorrected, Malaysians will drown because large numbers of Malaysians choose to believe racist theories spewed by Utusan .

Anonimous Z: Many years ago, I was impressed with a cartoon drawn by the famous Lat depicting the TNB (Tenaga National Berhad) utilising a big lorry load of 10 workers to change a street light bulb and yet complaints kept coming in.

Today, the TNB is utilising a small van with only two staff to do the same job and TNB's profit shot up three folds.

 


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