Scores of people turned up at the ‘mega sale’ held at a field in Petaling Jaya Old Town to buy groceries. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
MANY people, mostly senior citizens, lined up patiently at a field in Petaling Jaya Old Town, Selangor, as they waited for their turn to buy groceries at discounted prices.
The “mega sale” was for 25 types of household essentials, including rice, eggs, flour, onion, garlic, soy sauce, noodles and coconut milk packets.
They were sold at 50% discount at the event organised by the office of Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah to help reduce the financial burden of Petaling Jaya folk.
For Teivanai Angapan, the event was the third she had visited and was worth the one-hour wait.
The first two were located near her home in Taman Medan.
“I bought over RM100 worth of groceries, which can last me between two and six months,” said the 47-year-old.
“The savings that I get will go towards my children’s expenses or other items for my family of five.
“I will continue looking out for such events in future because it helps me save money,” she said.
Teivanai was accompanied by her sons Yugatheswar Ganapathy, 15, and Krishan, 11, as they lugged two boxes full of groceries.
Jamaliah Zakaria made a trip with two friends from her home in Bandar Sunway and waited almost two hours before it was her turn to shop.
“The wait was long but worth it.
“All the items are cheaper than market price since they are sold at 50% discount.
“I bought about RM50 worth of groceries, which would cost me over RM100 if I were to buy them at the market.
“These are enough to last about a month for my family of three,” said 53-year-old Jamaliah, calling for more of such events.
Maria said the programme was targeted at Malaysians, but migrant workers were also welcomed to buy the goods at discounted prices.
“We understand that the economic recovery has been slow and people are burdened by increasing household expenses, such as for healthcare and education.
“The sale is organised using my MP allocation from the Federal Government.
“My office buys the groceries at full price and subsidises half for the people,” she said.
Maria said her office had organised at least five such events across the three state constituencies under the Petaling Jaya parliamentary seat, namely Seri Setia, Taman Medan and Bukit Gasing.
The events are usually timed close to major festivals to help people with their festive preparations.
“Today’s event in PJ Old Town has drawn the biggest crowd thus far.
“It could be a reflection of the economy as people see the value of their income shrinking, or people are finding ways to stretch their ringgit,” she added.
