Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen and economic analyst Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin told FMT the comparisons were meaningless without factoring in purchasing power.
They were referring to a news report quoting remarks made by Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainudin in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.
Wong said the claim sounded implausible and challenged Hamzah to make comparisons based on the ratio of prices to household incomes.
“A bowl of noodles in Singapore costs S$3 and the average annual household income there is S$106,000,” he said. “In Malaysia, a bowl of noodles costs RM6 and the average income here is RM83,000.
“It is pretty obvious that Malaysians are financially poorer than their Singaporean cousins.”
He said it was only in housing that Malaysians were less burdened than Singaporeans.
Azrul said it was difficult to make sense of Hamzah’s statement without knowing how he had reached his conclusion.
“Did he take into account the different wage levels in Singapore and Brunei vis-à-vis Malaysia? Or do the 70% and 71% differences in the prices of goods reflect only the exchange rate differentials?”
Hamzah was also quoted as saying that there were no restrictions on the import of certain food items and that whatever protection was given was aimed at maintaining quality and prices.
Azrul urged the government to explain the kinds of protection given. He asked whether these included tariffs and approved permits (Aps), which he said could push up retail prices.
The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) alleged that price manipulation, affecting both imported and locally produced products, was distorting the market.
Fomca CEO Paul Selvaraj said: “What we can do is break the monopolies or monopolistic practices that are artificially increasing the prices of goods.”
He urged the Malaysian Competition Commission to look into the supply chain for all food items to find out whether a free market was operating at every link in the chain.
Price of goods: Minister says govt supports free market system