Inflation has led to huge increases in prices at the restaurant as well as the hawker centre, but the business continues to thrive.
Most Malaysians eat out because they do not have a choice, and this has led to a thriving trade for restaurant and food stall operators.
And while they chomp down on their fried chicken or slurp on their noodle soup, diners complain about the rising cost of eating out. This, for economy minister Rafizi Ramli, is deeply frustrating as evident in his comments on public ire over rising food prices recently.In the city, where eating out has somehow become a necessity, food is also more costly. As economist Barjoyai Bardai has pointed out, it could cost an individual up to RM25 to eat out each day.
Rafizi said the “unhealthy practice” of eating out has also made Malaysians more sensitive to the increase in food inflation even though overall inflation has come down.However, his comments also drew criticisms from former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who claimed it would only have the opposite effect on people.