Following Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s mention of the humble water spinach or kangkung in a remark which has drawn flak from netizens, some vegetable sellers are being flooded with questions posed by market-goers who ask if the price of the cheap vegetable has really gone down.

Not knowing the whole story, a vegetable seller who only wanted to be known as Ho said he wondered why a number of his customers approached him and specifically asked for the price of kangkung.

“I am very curious why so many market-goers came to my stall and checked if the kangkung price has dropped in the last few days,” Ho ( left ) said when met at the SS2 market in Petaling Jaya this morning.

Asked if he had heard about the widespread criticisms against Najib’s remark, Ho said: “I don’t have time for Internet surfing, just that some customers tell me that Najib has commented something about kangkung.”

However, Ho told Malaysiakini that it was true that kangkung price had gone down by about 50 percent since last week.

He explained that the price last month had skyrocketed to RM8 per kilogramme, but since last week, it had decreased to only RM4 per kilo.

About the volatility of vegetable price, Ho said the price was always changing and this was not something new.

A check at Pudu wet market by KiniTV also showed that the kangkung price had increased slightly from RM2.50 per kg last week to RM4 per kilo today.

Last week, an irate-sounding Najib attended an event at Kemaman and explained that vegetable and fish prices at times increase due to factors out of the government’s control, such as bad weather, and because of this the government should not be blamed for price hike.

Since then, the premier’s use of this ubiquitous and cheap vegetable as an example has become fodder for jokes on Facebook and Twitter .

‘Catchy remark hasn’t boosted sales of kangkung’

However, Najib’s controversial remark apparently has not boosted sales of kangkung at the market.

Another vegetable seller, only known as Lim, said the kangkung did not appear to be the top-selling vegetable at his stall and he only sold a normal amount of the vegetable.

Lim, who had also been pestered with all sorts of kangkung questions by customers, added that the price of cabbage and Chinese parsley had been reduced as well due to abundant supply from Cameron Highlands and Selayang.

Apart from flak and mockery on numerous social media websites, some had given negative descriptions like “nonsense”, “rubbish” and “ridiculous” while commenting on Najib’s statement.

Retiree Peter Chew, 63, urged Najib to stop ridiculing the people by making such a justification and creating “rubbish news”.

“Since he (Najib) knows about the kangkung price only by reading the newspaper, why doesn’t he spend some time to address issues that are more serious?” he asked.

Chew ( right ) opined that Najib should be more mindful in his speech as the country’s top administrative leader.

Meanwhile, a businessman who wanted to be known as Lee pointed out that the people received information from various channels and there was no way for the government to “fool” the nation.

“We know what happens, the vegetable prices have nothing to do with the government,” he stressed.

Sharing similar sentiments was a 50-year-old housewife known as Chong, who said Najib should be accountable for all kinds of price changes, and it would be “nonsense” that the premier only wanted to claim credit for price decreases.

“So I say this is a big joke. He (Najib) can’t just simply take the credit... please pass a message to the government that the people are very angry right now,” she lamented.