Some ignorant people say even at RM2 for a piece of face mask, the proposed 150% price hike by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry was still cheaper than other countries. Perhaps they should explain why a Honda Accord costs only US$26,000 in the U.S. while the same car would cost you an arm and a leg in Malaysia – RM185,000.
China is a wizard in the global manufacturing sector. In fact, China is the world’s manufacturing superpower. The country now makes 200 million face masks a day – more than 20 times the amount it made at the start of February when it was seriously hit with the Coronavirus outbreak. Therefore, the price can actually fluctuate beyond imagination.
Hence, it was seen as a daylight robbery when the Muhyiddin government suddenly announced the price of 3-layer or three-ply face mask will be increased to RM2 from RM0.80 a pop – a whopping 150% jump. Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi claimed that the price of face masks needed to be increased due to higher cost of production materials.
However, the previous government Pakatan Harapan (PH) had revealed that in their previous discussions with local manufacturers to boost the stocks to ensure sufficient supply of masks within the country, the government was supposed to purchase the face mask at only RM0.60 a piece. So far, the incompetent backdoor government of Muhyddin has neither denied nor rubbished the PH’s claims.
That was in essence an admission that the local manufacturers had indeed agreed to sell the 3-layer face mask at RM0.60 to the then-Pakatan Harapan government, which has since collapsed after Muhyiddin’s recent coup. And today (March 23), coming from the horse’s mouth, the prime minister announced that the government will purchase and give away face masks to all Malaysians – FOC.
Yes, after 3 weeks of insisting – like a broken record – that the country had sufficient face masks for everyone, PM Muhyiddin now indirectly admits for the first time that he had been lying after all. He said – “I have agreed and would like to announce that when it (face masks) reaches (Malaysia), we will distribute it for free to all Malaysians who need it. This is the contribution of the government during times of crisis.”
More importantly, the clueless prime minister, whose leadership is being questioned, has revealed that the masks will be purchased at around RM1.18 per piece. The cost of purchase will be absorbed by the government. Malay Mail reported that instructions have been given to the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) to expedite the order and shipment.
The revelation was as good as an admission that his government had unethically and shamelessly tried to profit from the ordinary people in times of Coronavirus pandemic. Even at RM1.18 a piece, the profit margin is close to 70% if the ceiling price of RM2 is enforced. Interestingly, the prime minister only gives away the candies after the proposed price hike triggered heavy criticism.
Had the people kept quiet despite the 150% price hike, chances are the corrupt Perikatan Nasional government would have proceeded in fleecing the people. Of course, giving away free masks now is nothing but an attempt to pacify angry folks, as well as to score some political brownie points after questions have been consistently raised as to why neighbouring Singapore can give free masks but not Malaysia.
However, this new orders is reportedly different from the 10-million face masks to be imported from China, which Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong had shamelessly taken credit after he claimed it was him who had recommended to PM Muhyiddin for the abolishment of the 20% import duty and 10% sales tax of the masks. The tax breaks were negotiated during the previous PH administration.
It’s believed that the 10-million imported face masks will be “parked” under Pharmaniaga, who is not only the sole concessionaire holder but also acts as a middleman of drugs and medical supply to public hospitals in the country. Pharmaniaga Bhd Group managing director Farshila Emran said on Monday (March 23) that it would not be able to spare any of the 10-million face masks for the public.
The statement from Pharmaniaga’s boss was not only arrogant but also irresponsible and short-sighted in the times of hardship when the people are left defenseless – they can’t buy any mask even at the inflated price of RM2 a piece. While 10-million face masks might not sound a lot, it actually translates to one third (30%) of Malaysia’s 32-million populations.
Hence, it sparks a burning question – why can’t the incompetent Muhyiddin government order Pharmaniaga to allocate, says 5-million face masks, to be distributed free to the public first while waiting for the new shipment of 10-million masks to arrive, after which the 5-million distributed masks can be reimbursed back into the inventory? Why can’t the masks be efficiently distributed?
Surely 5-million face masks are sufficient for medical frontliners in the immediate short term. The public is equally vulnerable and they are not pariah. Pharmaniaga MD Farshila claimed that the company had no intention to sell the masks but to distribute them as part of their corporate social responsibility. The company also boasted that they don’t take advantage of the pandemic to make money.
If that’s true, why can’t the company be flexible in the distribution of the face masks to protect both the medical frontliners and the public at the same time – parallel multitasking? Regardless, Muhyiddin Yassin must explain why the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry was allowed to raise the price of face mask to RM2 when the commodity could be imported for just RM1.18 a piece.
Other Articles That May Interest You …
- Shooting His Mouth Off – 10 Deaths After Clueless Health Minister Declared Signs Of A Plateau In Covid-19 Cases
- 150% Price Hike Of Face Mask – Someone In Muhyiddin Government Is Making RM18 Million “Every Month”
- Movement Control Gets Out Of Control – After His Own Screw-Up, PM Muhyiddin Warns Of Extended Lockdown
- A Disgraceful PM – Despite First Death From Coronavirus, Muhyiddin Discriminated Opposition States From A Covid-19 Meeting
- 2 Weeks Lockdown! – Panic & Confusion Continue Before And After PM Muhyiddin Announced The “Big News”
- Malaysia Appears On Track To Become The New Epicenter Of Coronavirus After 16,000 People Attended A Mosque Event
- China Appears To Be Winning The Coronavirus War, And Other Countries Are Studying How The Chinese Did It
- Muhyiddin’s Legitimacy In Question – The US, UK, EU & Even China Have Yet To Recognize His Backdoor Government
- Arabs Conspiracy Theories – Coronavirus Is The U.S. & Israel Biological Warfare To Cripple China’s Economy & Reputation
- How China’s Disease Surveillance System Discovered The Coronavirus Within 1-Week Of Illness Reports
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March 24th, 2020 by financetwitter
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Comments
“a Honda Accord costs only US$26,000 in the U.S. while the same car would cost you an arm and a leg in Malaysia – RM185,000”
Even when the “same” parts and quality are different between the “same” Honda Accord, one sold to the western countries, and one sold to Malaysia.
The “better” Japanese cars feel tacky, cheap, and have poorer quality when compared to the same models sold to the angmohs.
If you are blindfolded, you can still feel and hear the difference when you close the doors of Honda Accords sold to the angmohs.
And they don’t even bother use that fake leather spray to give a car that “luxurious” smell in the showroom.
Well, the market – and gomen is Asian.
And Asians you can mug!
Sell them junk.
And sell them more expensive!
Btw, it is the same with the Germans – they also mug Asians. A Merc or BMW or Audi is distinctly different between Europe, the US – and Asia.
You see a lot of luxury Japanese cars in Malaysia. Take a look under or deep inside the cars, if you can, and if you can tell the real McNakamoto from the fake McNakamoto. Try Lexus for a start…
Those cars are called “refurbished” and they are badly refurbished too, a real one would cost five times more, Suckers!
Still, I won’t advocate Malaysians have cars.
Apart from washing the cars all the time, Malaysians can’t drive and have no road manners.
Oh wait, that’s a very good profit isn’t it?
Imported 10 millions of masks from China, meaning the cost will be far cheaper than RM0.60 per piece.
Then it’s sales tax and import duty free..
Yet the government will buy at RM1.18?
Someone is earning a big fat cheque here!!!
Camel urine should be made available and free to the public.
It is tried and tested, a known cure for all sorts of health problems as described in some gospel. It is not unlikely it won’t cure coronavirus attack.
If we can readily get Moo piss traded as Calp*s in Malaysia, we should be able to get camel piss even more readily.
As well as the warm water cure, camel urine should be another weapon against any health issue, and drunk religiously.
If you are hesitant about gulping camel piss because it looks camel piss, wear your free mask over your eyes when you do that.
During their lockdown, a lot of Chinese used their time studying and learning things.
Purchases of online courses shot up in a big way.
If Malaysians, especially our dumb politicians, many with questionable qualifications, half use their tiny brains, they could also copy the Chinese, do something useful, learn something.
It does not have to be anything “heavy” if Malaysians are, as usual terrified of learning anything.
You can take up new interests, hobbies, open your minds – “travel” to distant countries, make friends…
You can learn about democracy, gomens, elections, corruption, policies, administration, etc etc so that your gomens don’t fcuk you up and fcuk you upside down because you are so blooming dumb, uneducated, and so easy to take advantage of.
We sure can blame the gomen for most things.
But aside from making a lot of noise, few have any clue other than doing that – and getting absolutely nowhere.
The moral of the story is – learn from “ketuanan Cina”!
In such a short time they have shot up in the area of science and technology, among many other brilliant achievements.
And we are still one large kampong with just too many with backward primitive kampong mentality!
So much for our garden variety, absolutely useless embarrassing chickensh*t “ketuanan”!
Come something super contagious and dangerous like the coronavirus, we don’t have enough of those with the basic intelligence, not spread their sh*t, go and get tested fast!
Ptuiii…!!!!!
The rakyat is confused. A 10 million face mask coming in from China and was being led to believe that it is a reciprocate gesture and to be widely deliver free to the nation usage as per to priority and catergory. Now we are being told that it was bought at certain price and that was why there will be a price hike due to shortage. Pharmaniaga again will be the sole representaive of the government to be in charge of the disposal. If it is a donated face mask Pharmaniaga has absolutely no role iin it and not even can they charged a penny for that. The Health Ministry should be directly involved . If it is purchased by the government ministry and at this juncture where the pains and hardship from this Covid 19 has spared no one , then it is imoral of the Government to retain Pharmaniaga as the caretaker of essential medical products where it is being cheaply produced but turn into an opportunity of unscrupulous business ethics. Pharmaniaga since from the days of BN has been very parasitic in their nature of business dealings where medical products and medicine are blown up in exorbitant pricing from the evasive purported creation of supply chain for a rent seeking process. This has changed the health care business to an unbelievable humongus money making activities. Strange that PH Government did nothing to put a check to Pharmaniaga monopoly structure and now they are happily back to their old partners in different form of PN. Finance Twitter please do validate that- Is the 10KK face mask is a donation from China ???? . One of the small unimportant Minister has claimed the credit and a hero to negotiate the purchase of the mask at an affordable price of more han a ringgit
We have someone whom the fable has it that he’s got supposed tremendous influence in China. He’s supposed to have huge sway over most of our political parties, so much so that when some blogger displeased him, the whore of PH rose up in indignation and anger, attacked the naughty offender.
Needless to say, this fella has got plenty of money too, hence the deference, devotion, and worship by those backside kisses in PH whom I have never seen aroused to such an extent when it came to those not so rich and those definitely poor.
There is absolutely nothing stopping our man of influence calling on the Chinese to sell Malaysia a good loada masks at a good discount plus two free gifts.
Even more so, the Chinese have been generously giving lotsa masks and needed equipment free all over the world, PH’s favourite tycoon could simply do the usual cheapskate, get the Chinese to donate them.
The Chinese do not like the DAP, are lukewarm to the PKR, seeing them as low class despicable stooges of particularly the Yank neocons. You can tell – when the Chinese drop by Malaysia, they don’t do anything big deal with the DAP or those in PH.
Still, our favourite tycoon can use his so-called and supposed legendary influence,, get the Chinese to cough up all the masks we need, and more.
Ok, maybe not cough… PH’s tycoon idol can even dig into his own deep pockets, buy all the masks for Malaysia.
And why not?
All over China, private companies, and individuals have been buying up masks and equipment to donate to countries all over the world.
It would be a miracle we – or some of us – get to see those masks or even wear them, eventually – or long before the virus hit most of us!
The question now is: Is the gomen killing off our local manufacturers of masks now that the gomen chose to sacrifice them by importing masks from China?
I know the Chinese would make the masks faster – and better, but our industries have still to be protected.
It seems the gomen is too quick to say one thing one day, and the next day say and do something else: inflate the costs of production here, then pay the Chinese to profit from us.
And whichever move they have made or would make, the gomen still looks hilariously inadequate and their natural plenty stupid.
Why is it so difficult to cut the price of local manufacturers but keep them alive, the gomen subsidises the difference? Any crony would be delighted at such arrangement.
Or get the Chinese to open a few factories here, they share their profits with us. The Chinese would get their factories going from ground zero up in no time and raking in the money super fast.
Or even better, get the Chinese to do a “Proton”, they come and run our country as they are bound to do a wonderful job none of our moronic politicians can even manage in their wildest dreams.
The Chinese running our country would certainly mask the incompetence, stupidity, cluelessness, worthlessness of our useless politicians, valued at three sens a piece – but only if dead.