Yup. The mamak shop worker had asked me if I wanted a plastic bag for my purchase of one piece fried chicken. Of course lah. Takkan saya nak bawa balik seketul ayam itu dalam tapak tangan.
I was charged RM4.20 for that little chicken in the small plastic bag. They’re passing on the costs to consumers.
It was actually an impulse buy. I’d quickly dropped in at the outlet as an afterthought in passing by. In future if I want to tapau food, I might consider bringing along a Tupperware or tiffin carrier.
I know another mamak place that’s added on 50 sen for the transparent plastic box in which you take away your meal — this is ever since styrofoam boxes were banned beginning Jan 1 this year.
Some people might say “hanya dua kupang pe”. But it all does add up as you spend in the day. You just don’t know which trader/retailer will be applying the charge on what kind of product or service.
Multiply the plus +20 sen cost here and plus +50 sen there across the span of a month (x 30 days) and it will make a small dent on the spending of our population segment whose main expenditure is on groceries.
Moreover we now have to buy brand new plastic bags to throw away our rubbish in instead of recycling the ones we used to get free from the supermarket.
Bet you can still remember how the introduction of GST sent prices everywhere spiraling even though the government assured us that they have things under control.
BELOW: Najib scowling at a packet of cooking oil in the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia
BELOW: From the same visit to the Kelana Jaya LRT store on 2 Sept 2016
BELOW: Scenes from the supermarket in early Novermber 2016
Helen Ang 
Hi, Helen. Long time I didn’t comment anything on your blog. Hope all is well with you. :)
I admit that I am unhappy with the prices of goods when GST was implemented since I could see a big difference in things like floor cleaner, detergent, shampoo, body wash or even milk, cheese, biscuits and the like. And yeah, the price for cooking oil also soared up drastically with a difference of around RM 10 for a 5 kg bottle.
I changed my spending habits over time and I rarely eat out these days, cooking more and including more veggies in my family’s meals since veggies are more affordable. These days, the prices at kopitiams are even ridiculous, so I even learned to cook various dishes based on recipes that I found online. I don’t know whether I should thank DS Najib for this, but either way, it’s expensive. Even cooking is expensive, but at least, I can stretch more compared to eating out.
As for the plastic bag, I admit that I live nearby a shopping mall, so I always walk there carrying my own reusable bags whenever I buy groceries. Hence, it’s not a drastic change for me. And I have been using my own garbage bags all along.
Looking the way things are going though, I doubt that I will be spending eating out. Maybe once in a blue moon.
Are you ok, Helen? Still alive?
I wonder where the 20 cts collected by the mamak go? Is it paid to the state? Or added to his account? At least we know where genuinely paid GST goes to.
Why don’t Hadi and Najib protest against the muslim travel ban in U.S? Are they scared?
Do like in Australia. Charge 10 sen or whatever sen for every recyclable items. Can, Plastic bag etc. Then whoever brings recyclable items for recycling, return the money back to them.
您还好吗？
I didn’t knew that even when you buy something from them they charge for plastic bags as well , don’t you think it should be free ? :/