Businesses in Malaysia are starting to feel the effects of the global economic meltdown. Even street peddlers and normally recession-proof industries have not been spared.
With retrenchment on the rise, retailers and businesses are resorting to price reduction to attract customers.
Some street peddlers have also started lowering their prices in a bid to stimulate demand. For example, a popular local snack called 'you tiao' used to cost 30 US cents a piece. Now, it costs less than 20 cents each.
Mdm Lee and her husband have been selling these traditional deep fried bread sticks for the last 24 years along Jalan Alor in downtown Kuala Lumpur. They said business has fallen by 40 per cent since the Lunar New Year at the end of January.
The couple said due to worries over the grim economic outlook, their customers are less willing to spend on extras.
"Last time, customers would buy and distribute to their friends, orphanages and old folks' homes. They would buy five or six bags each time. Now, they will only buy for their own consumption. Our business has suffered," Mdm Lee said. Still, they hope to draw back customers with their lower prices.
It is the same over at a chicken rice shop, which is offering discounts to civil servants and senior citizens to boost sales.
The operators are upbeat that Hainanese chicken rice, served with a hot bowl of soup, will remain a lunchtime favourite among Malaysians.
Alan Seow, BB Chicken Rice, said: "Even though we have had so many kinds of crises before, like SARS and bird flu, we can still survive."
But the private sector can only do so much. Mr Seow hopes the government will roll out more measures to help businesses ride out the bad times.
"Our government is too busy tackling the political crisis, the internal squabbles within their own political parties. Not much attention has been focused on our economic front.
"They are really wasting their time on something which is irrelevant. The decision-makers and policy-makers have to wake up to make sure they are doing something good for the economy and the people," he said.
All eyes will be on the government's second economic stimulus package, which is expected to be unveiled next month.
With retrenchment on the rise, retailers and businesses are resorting to price reduction to attract customers.
Some street peddlers have also started lowering their prices in a bid to stimulate demand. For example, a popular local snack called 'you tiao' used to cost 30 US cents a piece. Now, it costs less than 20 cents each.
Mdm Lee and her husband have been selling these traditional deep fried bread sticks for the last 24 years along Jalan Alor in downtown Kuala Lumpur. They said business has fallen by 40 per cent since the Lunar New Year at the end of January.
The couple said due to worries over the grim economic outlook, their customers are less willing to spend on extras.
"Last time, customers would buy and distribute to their friends, orphanages and old folks' homes. They would buy five or six bags each time. Now, they will only buy for their own consumption. Our business has suffered," Mdm Lee said. Still, they hope to draw back customers with their lower prices.
It is the same over at a chicken rice shop, which is offering discounts to civil servants and senior citizens to boost sales.
The operators are upbeat that Hainanese chicken rice, served with a hot bowl of soup, will remain a lunchtime favourite among Malaysians.
Alan Seow, BB Chicken Rice, said: "Even though we have had so many kinds of crises before, like SARS and bird flu, we can still survive."
But the private sector can only do so much. Mr Seow hopes the government will roll out more measures to help businesses ride out the bad times.
"Our government is too busy tackling the political crisis, the internal squabbles within their own political parties. Not much attention has been focused on our economic front.
"They are really wasting their time on something which is irrelevant. The decision-makers and policy-makers have to wake up to make sure they are doing something good for the economy and the people," he said.
All eyes will be on the government's second economic stimulus package, which is expected to be unveiled next month.
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