PM promotes local avocados, faces 'tone-deaf' criticism

Summary

• PM Anwar Ibrahim faces online criticism for being tone-deaf after promoting local Sabah avocados, following receipt of the fruit as a gift from a deputy minister.

• Users accuse him of displaying privilege and being out of touch with economic realities.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is under fire online and accused of being tone-deaf after advocating for local avocado purchases.

Social media users panned the call, which Anwar made after sharing a photo of a basket of avocados he had received as a gift from Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Arthur Joseph Kurup.

Kurup is also Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) president.

“Thank you, YB Arthur Kurup, for the delivery of Sabah avocados. To all avocado lovers, I suggest supporting our local avocados from Sabah!” Anwar posted on his X account.

X users slammed the post as insensitive, with some accusing Anwar of displaying his privilege.

Several claimed the Tambun MP was out of touch with people’s economic struggles, while others called for his communications team to face disciplinary action for allowing the post.

Some also questioned the price difference between local and imported avocados. One user shared an online price comparison of both types of avocados, which showed imported ones to be cheaper.

The avocado debate

The debate over avocados and their consumption, which the government deems taxable, has been dominating public discussion since the announcement of the sales and services tax (SST) expansion plan.

Anwar yesterday announced that apples and oranges will be exempted from the SST, after backlash against the premier when he initially claimed that the sales tax expansion on imported fruits would only impact rich people eating avocados.

“I see there are many complaints that the poor and B40 still eat imported apples and oranges because they are cheap.

“Usually, when a finance minister has made a decision, they must be firm. They can’t flip-flop.

“At first I thought, there’s no need to eat apples and oranges, they can eat papaya, guava, langsat - when in season - dukun, durian.

“But that’s ok, because (of the complaints) we give exemptions. Imported fruits will still have a small tax, but apples and oranges are exempted,” he said in a speech in Putrajaya.

SST expansion

The SST expansion, which includes a five percent tax on imported fruits, is set to come into effect on July 1.

All locally grown fruits are tax-exempt as they do not meet the criteria of goods that are taxed under the Sales Tax Act.

Anwar noted in his speech that avocados are being grown in Sabah.

However, as with most locally grown produce, there are concerns that local production is not sufficient to meet demand, which is why many fruits, such as mangoes, are still imported.

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