Signs of impending inflation
Character: 51 year old female, noodle stall operator. Weight 85 kg and height 1.67m
I was having my regular meal of noodles when the lady told me she would be raising her prices soon. She said she couldn’t help it. The price of raw noodles have gone up. So have the price of eggs, chicken, oil, and other ingredients which she uses for her cooking.
She said,
“I barely earn renough to support my family. I wake up early to prepare porridge for my children so they don’t have to spend money in school. I now spend almost Rm10.00 a week on my motorcycle petrol and Rm75.00 a week on my van. I was at a supermarket and I saw the price of a broom i wanted to buy has risen by Rm2.00. The price of canned goods have gone up. Biscuits and dried fruits too. Have you read today’s headlines? The bakeries have decided to raise their prices by 20%. At this rate soon only the rich will be able to survive in Malaysia.
My daughter says prices of goods here were already more expensive than West Malaysia six months ago. With this new round of increase, the wage earners might as well stop eating outside. it is fortunate there are certain items which are price controlled.”
I have to spend at least Rm11.00 a day on the Lanang Bridge toll some more. There may come a time when the amount I pay for the toll and the price of petrol factored may make it not viable for me to continue operating this noodle stall.
I believe there will be an increase in the price of petrol soon. What will happen after that? All the Ah Pek and Ah Mu will stop coming to my stall. Their pensions will drop in value. Even as it is they ask for mee kosong rather than with meat to save 50 sen.
Have you noticed less people are ordering drinks? I don’t force them because I know they are hungry and I need their business. If I force them to order a drink, to save money they might just bring their business elsewhere. People are now buying my packet nasi lemak at 60 sen rather than order noodles. It has nothing to do with my cooking. People are tightening their belts.
Do not let the rich get super rich at the expense of people like us. We also have mouths and we need to feed to sustain ourselves. I scold a woman the other day. She wanted to sell her vegetables at a higher price.
If I raise my price, people will scold me. I will lose some business. If I don’t raise my price, I can’t survive. Tell me what I can do, Beng. I can do nothing. Every body is poor. My customers are poor. They are not people who eat at fancy restaurants. They don’t expect delicious well maybe a little but they expect to fill their stomachs.
Can you see the alligator like creature here? In Chnese we call it si ka chua. or four legged snake
Bengbeng | interesting characters
When to raise our pay? Life is hard without money…..
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money… you’ll never live without it
that’s true.
aiya so sad lah but whats the si ka jua doing in the picture?
it was trying to get into the drain. dont know who was more surprised by the encounter, him or me
The food is still cheaper than Perth prices I’ll bet.
but we are paid Malaysian wages and you are paid Ozzie wages
Things go up but never come down as like our pays. We consumers only grumble all the time when things are expensive not thinking of the small retailers.
Funny thing is we will spend $$$ on perms and haircuts, clothes, bras, undies and not complain but as soon as we have to pay another few cents more for a bowl of noodles or hawker food, we frown at the tau-kays.
These people work so hard to earn every penny they deserve. If they prosper, they deserve to because it is not sit on your backside work. My husband and I have been there and we know. If business is good, we make $$$$ but that comes with hours of hard work and little time for family.
Big retail shops have directors never to be seen and their poor employees slogging the hours and hard work for minimal pay.
My moral is if I like the food, pay and eat. Don’t want to pay, don’t complain to the hardworking tau-kays who run the business (as if they have not got problems of their own) but just don’t eat! If we are a bit better off, tip the little boy/girl who brings your bowl of noodles to your table!
Everything is going up. Pastries have gone up 20% and they have warned us there will be another increase in December. Noodles too and everything else. Inflation is getting to be very real. Every one is jumping on the band wagon to raise their prices as much as the customers are willing to pay.