Malaysia’s currency woes spur financial stress, political discontent. Will the ringgit rise again?
One of the many Malaysians who is feeling the pinch is professional videographer Shunmugam Karuppannan, who also covers food prices.
These days, the 50- yr- old thinks double about taking his family to a restaurant, yet if they ate out just once a month earlier.
The ringgit has fallen, and as Malaysia imports about 60 % of its food, this has led to imported inflation, to the extent that his nine-year-old daughter is now attending college.
” Every day I’d give her RM2. And she did n’t tell me anything about ( prices being ) hiked up in the canteen”, he recounted.
After a few days of her skipping meals, he “got to know that the amount, RM2, of mee ho or whatever … had gone to Stock 3”.
The weakening ringgit has a wide range of income effects. Elliza Abdul Rahim, 54, who belongs to the M40 party, or the end 40 per cent of salary workers, has also become more price- conscious.
