JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Family Sales Programme, held in conjunction with the "Jelajah Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia" or Malaysian Family Aspirations Tour (AKM Tour) here received an encouraging response, with cooking oil packets proving to be a highly sought-after item among visitors.

Most visitors said that they were pleasantly surprised to see basic necessities sold at lower prices than the market, such as the cooking oil packets, which can be quite difficult to find in regular grocery stores, sold at only RM2 per packet compared with the normal price of RM2.50.

Apart from that, the public can get chicken at RM7.90 per kilogramme, compared with the maximum ceiling price of RM8.90 and 5kg rice sold at RM10.90, compared with RM13, as well as sardines, flour, sugar, seafood such as fish and squid, and fruit also sold at a discount.

Shafirah Noor Shina, who was in charge of the Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Bhd (Angkasa) stall, said that they sold more than 15 basic necessities, and cooking oil packets were among the items that needed to be restocked quickly.

"However, we limit purchases to two packets for each shopper,” she told Bernama on Thursday (March 3).

Visitor Liza Rosli, 39, said that she drove for almost two hours from Kluang to attend the programme so that she did not miss out on getting daily essentials at a cheaper price.

Liza, who runs a small business, said that the sales programme was very helpful to the B40 group, with savings of between 20% and 30%.

Salina Arshad, 48, who came with her husband and son from Kulai, hoped that such programmes will be continued to help those who were affected by the increase in prices of goods, or still struggling to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite having to queue for about 20 minutes in the sweltering heat, in compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set, before she could enter the premises, it was all worth it as she managed to buy cooking oil packets, rice, sugar and chicken at lower prices.

The three-day programme is being held at Dataran Angsana until March 5, from 9am to 8pm, and various activities such as exhibitions and government services await visitors.

There are also sukan rakyat (people’s sports), eSport, JaminKerja Keluarga Malaysia, and Small and Medium Industry (SMI) entrepreneur stalls, as well as Citarasa Keluarga Malaysia stalls which serve various traditional Johor dishes.

The AKM Tour is a continuation of the success and encouraging response of the AKM 100 Day Programme, held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in December last year, with the objective of ensuring that people at all levels understand and appreciate the aspirations of the Malaysian Family. - Bernama

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/03/03/johor-akm-cooking-oil-packets-in-hot-demand-at-039malaysian-family039-sales