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Congrats to Mara Digital traders, but don’t celebrate yet

YOURSAY | ‘Selling IT products is not like selling nasi lemak or pisang goreng.’

Mara Digital traders back 'bumi monopoly' model

F air Play: As a Malaysian, I wish all Malaysians doing business would be successful.

However, selling IT products is not like selling nasi lemak or pisang goreng; you need capital, product knowledge, in touch with rapid technology change as well as customers’ preference.

Limiting the sole distributor rights to WGN Innovation Frontiers for IT products to the Mara Digital retailers would suggest that the supplier might end up as the only guaranteed winner.

Wira: If every stall is receiving goods from the same supplier, where is the price competition that will benefit the consumers?

The stalls will likely be forced to sell goods at a cartel price. The problem is WGN does not have a monopoly on digital products in this country.

The stall owners might as well sublet their stalls to WGN and collect a monthly fee from the principal - it’s easier way to 'cari makan' (make a living) in that way.

TheAnonymous: Having a big brother watching your back in business is something I can't comprehend. What if WGN fails them; who are they going to blame? The Chinese again?

And if it works, the bumiputeras can't proudly say “I did it on my own”, can they?

Dont Just Talk: With six-month free rental, just about anyone can benefit from the Mara Digital deal.

It is only in Malaysia that the country owes them a living and not to other races; yet Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob can proudly say that this is not racial , and call for non-Malays to support his brilliant idea.

Obs: If these bumiputera traders cannot survive, the minister will allocate more Mara funds to extend free rental, to subsidise WGN, to give them more grants under the pretext of bumiputera entrepreneurship development... there are so many things that Ismail Sabri can do.

And the taxpayers will be the suckers in the end.

Prudent: I don't think they will fail; it is likely they will succeed.

After all, Malay Muslims comprise 54 percent of the total high-income group as compared with the Chinese’s 38 percent. The Malay Muslim market is more than enough to sustain them if they serve it well.

If they succeed, good on them. We shall see how far they can go with government-supported monopolies. So hopefully, we will see no more fighting at Low Yat Plaza or other Chinese-owned outlets.

Headhunter: It's gratifying to know that business is good for these traders; but don't celebrate yet because a new place to shop usually attracts a lot of attention.

Just make sure that your products are of good quality and up-to-date, and that your service is excellent.

Ian2003: Very good in getting RM100,000 in sales within the first two weeks.

Now I assume that if you can make RM1,000,000 sales per month and at a margin of 20 percent, that means you'll have RM200,000 gross profit; and divided by 36 tenants means that each tenant can make a profit of RM5,555.55 per month.

So after salary payment, would the tenants be able to pay rent after the six-month rent-free period is over?

Drngsc: Let us be patient. We are glad that the traders are happy, we’re just concerned that should they fail, taxpayers’ money may be used to bail them out.

We are all for traders, but are totally against middlemen who reap profits without work. That is totally wrong.

Please traders, work very, very hard and as you can only succeed through hard work. No taxpayers' money for bail out, please.

My Opinion: When they start Low Yat or Kota Raya or wherever, they never say there must be a Chinese monopoly. They just let market forces work by itself.

If economist Adam Smith is still around, he will definitely say this Mara Digital ideas will not work in the long run (at least for the whole of the Malay community).

Perakian: Good, it encourages healthy competitions; so that our traders can later compete globally.

Sleepy: Business - pardon the comparison - is like marriage. During the honeymoon period, in this case six months, everything is dandy.

Marriage is a long-term commitment where reality will inevitably set in.


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