At least 26 goods, services and commodities will see price jumps once the full chain of all price hikes is implemented, according to an Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) professor.

Speaking at a forum on price hikes organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian yesterday, UUM economics professor Amir Husin Baharudin said basic commodities such as beef and vegetables will also see price hikes.

However, he did not list all the 26 items that he had identified.

"I have included the light rail transit (LRT) and toll increase. Even though it (LRT fare increase) has not been announced yet, it is imminent and so I included that," Amir said.

While he understood the predicament the government was in, Amir said once there was a need to cover costs as a result of energy sources becoming expensive, the government no longer looked at the welfare of people.

"The problem is, when it comes to that, it only looks at the profit and loss of companies. The government does not look at the people anymore," he added.

Government must care for the people

He said that the government "must care" for the people because, whatever it does, it is merely managing the people's money.

"Whatever they do in theory, the money comes from the people. The government is not printing money. So it needs to care for the people," he said.

Amir said that Malaysia "tries too much" to copy the United Kingdom’s system of governance and economics, though this tends to fall short under local realities.

"As a result, the cost of living just keeps going up.

"There is no point in saying that it (the government) is wrong all the time. But maybe it tried, and whatever it tried is just not working," Amir added.