DEPUTY MINISTER: M'SIANS NEED TO RAISE CONSUMER AWARENESS, BECOME SMART CONSUMERS

By Yong Soo Heong

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysians need to raise their awareness on
consumer rights and learn to become smart consumers, says the Deputy Minister of
Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, Tan Lian Hoe.

Local consumers, she said, should unite and exert their influence on prices,
especially when dealing with traders bent on making excessive profits.
"Consumers have the power to protect themselves," she said in an interview
with Bernama.

"They can always look for cheaper alternatives if they practised
smart consumerism because there are many outlets selling the same items."

A recent survey conducted by her ministry showed that consumer awareness in
Malaysia was relatively low, she said.

Citing an example on the local cafe industry where consumers had exerted
their rights and influence, the deputy minister said she had observed that some
foreign coffee retail chains had closed a number of their outlets in Malaysia
because of strong competition from local modern "kopitiams" whose coffee were
cheaper but tasted just as good.

Tan said she understood that when people went into business, their aim was
to make a profit.

"That is understandable. But sometimes there is excessive profiteering when
traders exact very high prices to the extent that consumers become extremely
burdened."

Using an analogy, she said increased prices meant that consumers would feel
the pinch and could still hold out but when excessive profiteering took place,
"it is as if they would become blue black or bleed."

As such, Tan, said consumers should raise their awareness on their rights
and learn to speak out against excessive price increases.

She also called on traders to adopt good business ethics and avoid excessive
profiteering as they were also consumers of other goods or services themselves.

"They should not start a chain reaction towards higher prices. If their
prices are reasonable, it does not mean that they are going to lose money. Maybe
they can earn more because they can sell on volume as more consumers would be
encouraged to buy because of lower prices, she said.



Tan said the government was also concerned about the burden of higher prices
on consumers and would intervene, especially during festive seasons. For this
Chinese New Year, her ministry has imposed price controls on 11 items, including
various types of chicken, eggs, white pomfret fish, cabbages and pork.

"The government also imposes price controls on essential items for other
major festivals like Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali and Christmas," she said.

According to the ministry’s website, it recorded 842 cases or complaints
under the Weights and Measures Act, 1972 last year and in the process made
seizures totalling RM740,128. (US$1=RM3.05)

There were also 794 cases of complaints under the Consumer Protection Act,
1999 and goods worth RM596,141 were seized.

Tan said her ministry, which also has a consumerism division, would be
taking a pro-active step towards educating more consumers on their rights
through the media and by going to the ground, especially in the rural areas.

She also hoped that consumers would work with their consumer associations to
help the government to increase greater consumer awareness and bring about an
objective or fair consumer movement in Malaysia.

Under the National Consumers’ Policy, the Ministry of Domestic Trade,
Cooperatives and Consumerism seeks to create a harmonious environment and bring
about equitable rights and responsibility among consumers, traders,
manufacturers and the government through improved regulations, business ethics,
education, health practices and public amenities.