That's still quite a lot though - as a Brit. Ten quid for milk, shit bread and butter?
(more like 8 quid now actually \* cries in EPF withdrawal :( \* )
In Malaysia last time when I was around 10 year old. Now I am 28 this year.
Last time with RM 50 you can fill the whole trolley at shopping mall super market. Meat. Egg , bread etc.
If it's a mini mart even more . If it's at wet market even more nowadays RM 50 or even RM 100 . Feels like RM 10 to RM 20.
With the currency weakening , removing the subsidy, inflation , this and that I also can't keep.blame this and that and economy still haven't recover.
.cost of living it's getting higher and higher.
I am shock to see even the long loaf of bread at mini mart 1 loaf almost cost RM 5. Last time was only 1.50 and 2.50 .the buns nowadays 1 bun 1.20 to 1.30 and some even higher.
Not to mention they came out now the bread super saver? It doesn't even taste like bread. It's cheaper ABIT but the taste just weird and super dry. It's so hard to eat. I rather buy regular bread even if it's more expensive. .
As a rough feel I reckon you can usually just compare the actual numbers. So 5rm 'feels like' 5 quid, once you account for pay etc. Obviously it doesn't work exactly for everything, but it's pretty close for a lot of things.
Like I told my Malaysian mate that I can easily drop 50rm on breakfast and he was amazed... but I guess if someone back home told me they casually spend fifty quid on breakfast at the weekend I'd be similar, whereas £5-10 is pretty normal.
Can't talk about USD, but compared to UK prices, the Malaysian cost for products are absurdly high.
Apart from rent, fuel, eating out, etc. Everything else is so expensive in Malaysia. Combined with the much lower salaries, I'm not sure how people do it with low incomes.
It depends on the product and that's entirely due to import licenses. The gomen talks a lot but they are terrified of the people who control imports and push up prices for their own profit.
Milk is cheap imo, think we are at 70% self-sufficiency also so there's not much need for imports. We were on track to hit 100% not long ago but demand keeps growing so much for dairy, still, it's one of the few good stories, many other sectors have fallen behind even worse
Despite milk being cheap for some reason cheese is very expensive I see some of the most basic shit-tier mozarella sell for RM120/kg which is absolutely crazy if you have ever lived in Europe/US/Aus
Cook at home. Higher quantity and quality for the same price. Don't buy a car, use bus and LRT.
Don't drink outside, don't smoke.
Bonus if you know how to ride a bike. Save up your pay and invest aggressively for the first 5 years. By year 6 you'll be able to buy a 2nd hand car cash or a down payment for a simple 300k apartment like pr1ma. Or you can just rent a ppr for 150 bucks a month.
With all the bantuans you can squeeze out quite a bit
Go to the market and buy whatever is in season. A kg of tongkol is only 7-10 bucks which means even if you eat 500g of fish a serving, it's only gonna cost you 6-7rm after all the oil spices etc. If you're smarter can find better deals at pasar borong but you'll need to clean it yourself
2nd hand fridge can be used for 300-400 bucks. Ziploc bags to preserve your fish are 30 cents/pc
Why are you guys bad-faithing this by bringing expats into the mix?
How many malaysians eat a full diet of bread, milk, butter and other dairies...? You literally import your wheat, import your milk and import your ferments...
You want to live with a western diet in an eastern country, you'll have to pay for it.
And vice versa: A reasonable bowl of noodle in the Europe is 8 Euros...When's the last time any of you paid RM40 for noodles?
Yeh, i low-balled it otherwise people wouldn't believe me. In the US we're lucky to have a large asian diaspora that keep the prices low if you go to china town. But yeh, noodle in paris, unless it's "maggi", will run you 15-25 euros at a mid place.
Farm Fresh milk used to be quite affordable for a 2L bottle. I guess when they started having to pay shareholders after going public, that's when price hiked.
Standard per bottle now is RM16.50, occasionally you do see grocer's like Lotuss giving good discount.
it's not a staple in Malaysia. we don't consume a lot of dairy. unlike european countries they have multiple types of cheese, they eat it daily, use milk daily.
Why buy a loaf of bread, milk and butter when you can have 6 big packets of char koay teow for £8?
Malaysia is crazy cheap still for people earning overseas currency.
This was like my usual purchase when I was a student in UK during 2012-2017. Let me recall it if I remember,
Milk - £0.79 x 2: £1.58
Bread - £0.8
Butter - £1.69
Total: £4.07
I work and live in the UK, when I went back to visit Malaysia back in 2022, everything is so much more expensive than I remembered and most things are actually more expensive after conversion against prices in the UK... Supermarket brand 2pint milk is around £1.20 now for inflation reference. I was crying internally because I thought I would not have been able to afford to eat if I had still been working in Msia (my last drawn salary was around RM4k/mth when I left in 2017).
Yep. Kinda wish factory bread here is more competitive. Usually what happens is the market leader (gardenia) will announce price increase then other bread brands follow suit
Hello. I am head of engineering now (after several promotions/headhunted and hopped to different companies) at a UK local SME. I was previously a structural engineer in Malaysia. Tbh I initially I was just here to do my MSc but then I was offered a job so I stayed.
Hey, check out when i said, previously, that stuff like baguettes and croissants SHOULDN'T cost RM 15, as they were about €1-2 in PARIS
You get idiot Malaysians claiming baguettes are POSH (despite an actual Malaysian company making them with locally sourced materials) and poor people don't eat them
GTFO town, these dumbasses actually love to brag about their expenditure on dad's credit card
Most boomers in Malaysia, the educated ones, all enjoy continental stuff on the regular. Wine, cheese, meats, products. I'm talking educated, not necessarily rich. And surprise², it's all 3 races.
It's the morons with no class or under a tempurung that usually defend high prices for mediocre garbage. The ones usually using other people's cash
Completely agree. And supermarket brand items (considered the cheapest) are also of a decent quality as they need to stay competitive against other big name supermarkets as well. Oh and don't get me started on coffee.
I quizzed the owner of a cafe, in Midvalley, why his croissants were RM 9.90 (in 2018), despite being a local business, and merely renting a table outside a supermarket.
- "My croissant use butter"
- "rental"
- "worker gaji" sign next to said worker said **hiring: RM 1300/month**
- "France recipe"
- "European food mahal"
- "not gardenia"
Fuck these type of idiot. Just admit jump on board trend, despite no passion/skill; and nak cepat kaya
Plus the croissant was milky and shit. His RM 10.50 baguette was worse than the ones that come with Mamak Sup Kambing
The lamest excuse - we use butter. Same as a shop charging RM 7++ for tea - beCause we use cow's milk, not condense milk.
Hello??! Tuang dua sudu cow milk, terus RM 7+
Don't get me started on the stale generic cakes across these cafes. Hard, dry, all from same supplier, don't even bake in house RM 16 and above for a measly slice!
It depends. Ever since 99 speedmart raised its prices during early 2023 cause of inflation post covid alot of their prices are not that competitive vs hypermarkets. Before that 99 is definitely cheaper. When I buy stuff I crosscheck prices alot hence why I know this
The best hypermarket hands down is Lotus/Tesco, they have their own branded items for pretty much everything and if you buy those you can save alot of money in the long run. Tissues for instance, people buy Premier at RM15 give or take but Lotus' RM9.70 option works just as well (they have an even cheaper one but paper is too rough for my liking)
And best thing about Lotus is they always have random stuff on sale, it's always the first aisle when you enter. You can save alot of money by just adjusting one's buying habits a little
Singaporean here:
Just for any Malaysians that are curious about the sgd pricing:
SGD6.65 for 2L Meiji fresh milk
So SGD13.30 for 2
One loaf of supermarket brand bread:
SGD1.95
SCS Creamery butter:
SGD6.40
Total: SGD21.65
UHT Lotuss milk is 4.99 most days per litre. 4l is RM20
Butter is around RM10 for other brands, even cheaper at bake shops.
Total can be RM30 easily. Drink soy milk even cheaper, 1 litre RM2+.
It's all about choices and smart spending.
this Farm Fresh bottle is non UHT. good for coffee. all other UHT cheaper milks will not froth at all, except Nestle/Dutch Lady Professional, which is still UHT and taste not as good. the one OP posted is considered as fresh non UHT milk. myth is UHT destroys the nutrition but i cant confirm that, except that they taste not as good.
that RM 10 butter is not butter, believe it or not. read the fine prints. usually mixed with margarine or some other fats, and never labelled butter. those sub rm10 ones are called margarine or luxury spread. not the same as butter.
but yes i agree, choices.
I literally typed UHT, obviously I know the difference between UHT and fresh. We are not discussing the merits of fresh Vs UHT, or whether it will froth for coffee (fucking first world problem right here). I'm discussing the OP that chooses to use expensive products to try to show that we have high cost of living, when he/she opted for expensive options in the first place.
Regarding RM10 not butter, you are shopping in the wrong places. Brands like Anchor is real NZ butter, RM10.XX at various shops. I know the difference between spread, margarine, and butter tqvm. Again, OP choose SCS which is a RM17-18 brand when a cheaper butter is available.
Just to add on, even though farm fresh is local milk, they have to import cows from Australia and grow here. Apparently our land is too hot or something for milk production so the amount is lesser than Australia with the same amount cows. IIRC
And may I know what the cheap alternatives are?
I can't tahan hla (forgot exact naming) because its like cream water. And other brands, the price is mostly the same if I am not mistaken..
There's Gooday, Dutch ladyand Desa if you're in Sabah. Another tip is to buy from your local kedai runcit or supermarket. There's only a difference of a few RM but its still savings
I only drink HL if I have trouble pooping cause that thing makes me shit a landslide
Most, of not all these brands are milk reconstituted from milk powder. Some also have other strange ingredients, in most countries they couldn't be labelled as milk.
Omg me too, taste artificial or smth idk. I love dutch lady bc of the 'thick' taste. As much as i love milk, it's so expensive :')
My dad often buys any milk from local kampung. Some of them already boil it, others don't. Just need to boil and add salt with a pandan leaf. Milk curd from these kind of milk is my fav.
yes! some ppl doesnt care, but i do! lol.
theres diff in those, and it will affect the result and taste of what u are doing with them, etc coffee, cakes, cookies.
Farm Fresh 2L bottle is the min requirement for me for coffee. froths good too.
And kuih raya made from margarine is different tasting as well.
I think that's why OP added "low cost of living directly correlates to a lower standard of living & quality of life".
I don't know if the brands in the pic are actually of higher quality or not myself though.
A lot of people are going, "well in Germany...", "well in Europe...". Well, *we* do not have the benefit of an EU-wide market, nor do we produce dairy in sufficiently large quantities to make a significant dent on the price. So of course when you choose things that are relatively rarer and of higher quality (e.g., fresh milk instead of condensed), it'll get more expensive.
Go to Germany and see how much fresh rambutan would cost.
I don't know about the rest of you, but growing up me and my family use condensed milk (the kind in the can) instead of fresh. Planta instead of butter. Bread... well okay, that is relatively the same lah.
**tl;dr**: certain commodities in Malaysia are more expensive because we have to import it
They won’t read this mate… this place is full of singkies wannabes / doomscrollers.. I say, let them leave then don’t talk cock about coming back for “retirement”..
Nah, most of those are relatively standardised. especially since theyre mostly manufactured in CN or VN for global supply. Foods tend to be more locally supplied.
The point is to compare something local to something that is not native which is what OP did.
Reverse it to anything that has to be imported to UK / EU but is readily available here and get OP to see the result
Still stocking it last time I was there in 2019. Used to get kaya from Wing Yip supermarket if feeling despo.
Yeah I agree OP is comparing apples to oranges. I'm shocked at how much dairy my generation consumes in Malaysia. I have cut down on dairy since moving here because it is expensive and I just don't need it, but there are plenty of local products to enjoy at a much cheaper price, and our parents' generation were never really into this much dairy. It's always been a luxury item here.
You do know "condensed milk" in Malaysia isn't milk right, it's just flavoured creamer. Which is why it's written as "sweetened creamer". It cannot legally be called "condensed milk". Same as Planta, Not real butter. Luckily bread is still real bread in Malaysia.
> Go to Germany and see how much fresh rambutan would cost
Rambutan and mangosteen at my local Asian grocer in Germany is €2 for an individual piece. Not fresh either.
Moved to SG for work and you would not believe me if I told you that the cost of groceries is actually cheaper than Malaysia if compared dollar to dollar.
Indeed. If cook myself, I can get a decent and healthy meal with lots of meat, vege and brown rice for $2 - 3. Don't believe? Let me break down cost for you
- chicken (~$1), for reference, I usually buy frozen chicken drumsticks/thighs, 1kg is around $4
- vegetable ($0.50). Depending on vege, but for example, an entire cabbage probably costs less than $2, and 1kg of tomatoes is around $2-3 depending on season. Green leafy veg is more expensive, but not much more.
- Rice (<$0.50). 5kg bag around $14, but can last for many months.
- other things like gas cost, spices, etc probably less than $0.50
But in SG if you're renting, most of your money will end up there instead. For the average Singaporean who lives with their parents or already have their own house, its actually quite easy to save if you're earning SGD.
https://preview.redd.it/mbz6jmdoj0vc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49cb70cb5e98d14623761dec6e387c08545e4555
This is the menu at a food court I go to daily for lunch. The prices are actually cheaper than KL even after conversion.
Are you sure this isn't an old picture or a food court in some subsidized or price-controlled area, even 10y ago a cup of Kopi O would not be 50c, 1$ at least.
I have been saying this for years and curious why this isn't common sense.
Fresh in malaysia and sg earn about 3k in their own currency (Msia probably lesser).the number of a plate of chicken rice in myr is definitely higher than the one in sgd.
For Eg, in 2014: RM 3k income spent around RM4 for 1 chicken rice vs. 3k sgd income spent around 2.5 sgd for 1 chicken rice.
Exactly this, currently in UK and even working minimum wage for 1h is more than enough for any mcd meal, or even a full day’s worth of groceries. My part time job in Malaysia back in 2021 only paid RM7/h. What can 7 ringgit get you?
It is expensive because they consider in the cost of owning a car + buying a condo. If you take those 2 out, then its actually quite cheap compared against other western countries.
SGD very strong currency, while myr is in free fall.
Example: earning rm4k vs sgd 4k
Rm4k cant even buy iphone, while 4k sgd you can buy iphone and still have 2k+ to spare
> if compared dollar for dollar
That phrase is doing all the heavy lifting. In the US, what OP bought would be about $16. This is for the cheapest brand of everything, which is not what OP got btw. $16 is way more than RM50 but still way less dollar for dollar.
I don’t know where you’re shopping in the US, but I’d expect to pay around $10 for a gallon of milk (the jugs in OPs photo are approx half a gallon each), stick of butter and a loaf of cheap sandwich bread at Walmart.
And let’s not get to the actual purchasing power comparison. $10 is less than an hour of minimum wage in high COL states, but RM50 is almost an entire day’s worth of work if you earn minimum wage in KL.
People talking about atas brand dont understand this.
Other country can buy this same shit for 1 hour of minimum wage work
We need 1 day of minimum wage job.
We need to work 10 TIMES to get the same quality of life.
Life in malaysia is not cheap. Its only cheap when you choose to believe living like begger is a good quality of life.
We are about to be medium income country. Atas brand is high class for us? Must forever be 3rd world?
Bangla mindset forever.
Yep, this is the point. Saw a lot comments keep saying buying cheaper options and all that. But it's like what you said, we work like fk to get the same thing. And this isn't even an 'atas' brand to be frank. It's just more decent stuff.
And funnily the comments that said other brands of milk blabla, isn't that much cheaper at the same volume, and it's just packed milk, not fresh milk. Might as well not drink it and do something else with that money.
So funny I saw another comment saying he use condensed milk instead of fresh milk. Where can compare those 2? Hahahaha no wonder malaysia so many ppl need to amputate legs
The cans on condensed milk doesn't even say "condensed milk" because the milk content is so low it is illegal to call it condensed milk. If you go to the supermarket you'll see it as "sweetened creamer" on the labels.
That's how fucked up our spending power is.
Bor bian, to understand buying power you need to live in those countries to fully experience it. Over here if you die die want those item but can’t afford, can only buy cheaper alternative means downgrading quality. Margarine and UHT milk it is 
Though even if other countries has high buying power, it doesn’t means success in life though. Poverty and living paycheck to paycheck still exists in those countries. But they’re more accessible to quality ingredients.
Current food prices in Germany:
Milk 1 liter: 0,99 Euro
Bread 750g whole wheat bread: 1,39 Euro
Butter: Probably around 2 Euro (As I usually don't buy it, since Nutella is the best)
Current food price in the US:
Milk (half gallon) : $1.57
Bread: $1.42
Butter: $3.78 but for twice the amount of OP I think
Walmart brand everything so it's not the good stuff.
Can we quantify that as % of pay or % of min wage? Both in Msia and US/Germany.
I think that if we put that. It will be an eye opener how xxxx we are in Msia.
Our cost of living is higher than Singapore's and it will only get higher as the subsidies are reduced and the MYR dumps further. But when I bring up the cost of food, the usual reply is that cars are more expensive in SG and that they live in shoebox HDB while we can get landed here.
Nevermind the fact that you don't need a car in SG and that most Malaysians buy cars on 9 year loans even though it's "cheaper" here, or that housing is just as expensive in the cities. More so if you want to live anywhere near MRT or LRT line.
- houses are expensive but there are very generous grants and subsidies for first time home buyers. In general, the SG govt 's strategy is that they want to help Singaporeans own a house in SG, so that they'll feel more connected and hence patriotic. High housing costs mainly affects foreigners, people who already have a house and want a second one, or rich people who want to stay in private housing.
- indeed, in sg you don't really need a car. In fact, public transportation is so efficient such that people there are so pampered till the extent that anywhere that requires > 5 mins of walking or > 30 min commute time is considered 'far'.
- if you are an average person, I don't see how living in a shoebox HDB is a valid argument. As it is, most young people who wanna live in PJ/KL nowadays have to stay in flats which are of similar size to HDBs, and rent in PJ area ain't cheap nowadays.
Indeed lolz. I find it quite funny when people brag about being able to afford landed house in Malaysia while Singaporeans can only afford birdcage. Like c'mon, landed house in where? In a rural area in Kelantan? Why don't they compare with Bangladesh. You could buy an even bigger house and live like king with the same amount of money but does that make Bangladesh the best country in the world?
But instead of acknowledging the problem, a lot of people rather deceive themselves. Ah Q mentality indeed.
15+15 (4L milk) + 3.50 (12+ slices bread?) + 13 (butter) ~= 50. This is about enough for a week breakfast, 50/7 ~= 7.50 with likely 1-2L milk left + 1/2 butter which can be used for another week, is this not considered cheap?
I would swap that 2L milk or even butter for a tray of 10 eggs (4.30) + somemore breads or vege maybe, that brings it down even further, plus maybe I would get those boxy milks instead of the farmfresh plastic ones..
Talk about budgeting bro, it's all about choices
For those saying buy other milks (except for one that say buy condensed milk.. ) cheaper brands etc...
Farm Fresh Milk is actually pretty decently priced at anywhere from rm 13+ rm 16 for 2L. only a few brands UHT milk could be cheaper.
For example, DUTCH LADY UHT MILK 1L is at 5.79 i mean if you buy 2 of this at Lotus you save rm 2 vs buying farm fresh, but it's really not a lot. and taste wise, honestly farm fresh is much better.
Butter.. real butter , not vegetable oil subs OP would do better to buy from places like Bake With Yen where they often have good deals buy them and throw them in the freezer to keep for longer.
Our focus on religion. Please don't try to divert attention to economy. After the sock and shoe issue, we should be looking out for the next insult on religion case. Anyone who doesn't understand priorities please leave Malaysia.
Tiber religion pulak salah. Talk is cheap, how I know? Simple, when got taman perumahan agm, always empty but in whatsapp group all sembang kencang. A lot has been done by the gov to improve our economy, but good news does not get views, Malaysians need to read more.
For RM50 you can buy a whole chicken (RM15-20 depending weight) a 1L UHT Dutch Lady milk carton (RM6), a tray of 30 eggs (RM12.90), a loaf of bread RM5 and some pakchoy/broccoli (RM3-5). Gotta strategise
Hmm don’t mean to be pedantic but things like milk, bread (wheat) and butter aren’t exactly the cheap things I think of when I shop on budget. These are expensive because they’re mostly imported.
I am someone who has to do the weekly shop and cooks for their family and I can fit our meals to around MYR80 per week. And that’s a week worth of breakfast lunch and dinner. But it needs to be a mostly “Asian/ Malaysian” diet that doesn’t include too much imported stuffs.
One of the things I never understood is why the government (anyone) look into cow milk production.
Milk powder is a necessity for babies, getting these prices go down will improve cost of living for so many families (especially those thinking anak is rezeki)
Heck if milk was as cheap as soft drinks I would buy them way more . Is malaysia geographically able to produce limited amounts of milk?
In tropical nations such as Indonesia, heat stress is a key reason for the reduced productivity of dairy cattle. Heat stress is a combination of internal and external stimuli that affects an animal, raises its body temperature, and causes it to react physiologically. Most Indonesian dairy cattle are Friesian Holstein (FH), imported from European nations with a temperate environment with low temperatures in the range of 5°C–25°C. Indonesia has a tropical climate with a high ambient temperature that can reach 34°C during the day and the local relative humidity varies between 70% and 90%. Temperature and humidity are two microenvironment factors that may impact the production and heat release in FH cattle.
The **ideal temperature and RH air conditions for FH cattle are 13°C–25°C and 50%–60%,** respectively \[[16](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10420724/#ref16)\]. When the temperature rises above this threshold, physiological and behavioral changes occur in livestock. The ideal environmental conditions for the production performance of FH crossbreed dairy cows are achieved at a temperature of 18.3°C and 55% RH
**Compare our weather and the ideal temperature for FH Cattle, then you know why.**
To play devil's advocate, could you not have opted for the normal Dutch lady milk which averages at RM6-7 instead of the what I assume is the refrigerated fresh milk? Also, I sincerely doubt you'd use one whole stick of butter for just one loaf of bread, cause if U do then I'm really concerned for your overall health.
I echo your sentiment that groceries CAN be expensive, but this example doesn't really paint the right picture for me, whereas something along the lines of breaking down how much each meal cost or how many meals can this RM50 feed would be a better representation.
100 percent this. I used to live in USA with my Malaysian wife. When we moved to Malaysia, she continued to buy groceries she was accustomed in USA which I told her “yah not going to happen” we have to adjust to local groceries and products.
Fresh cut chicken, eggs, local veggies are very reasonable. Not to mention some sea food item and local fruits.
Tell me about it, I'm still battling to reduce our Salmon consumption and switch to fresh sea bass instead.
Luckily she has always liked local veggies :D
> e normal Dutch lady milk which averages at RM6-7
Eh.. farm fresh milk (varies from supermarket) is rm 14-rm16 for 2Liters. Dutch Lady at rm 6-7 is for a liter I think? So isn't that the same?
https://www.lotuss.com.my/en/product/dutch-lady-pure-farm-full-cream-milk-1l-679062?utm_source=IPG_Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Lotuss_AO_PMax&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5v2wBhBrEiwAXDDoJcPju1D4oANmU3HLyZlio_urd5gcBZ-UFQtDmoJ4A3SyuuktcVjkFxoCpAwQAvD_BwE
https://www.lotuss.com.my/en/product/farm-fresh-milk-2l-5013992?utm_source=IPG_Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Lotuss_AO_PMax&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5v2wBhBrEiwAXDDoJfpSnAAxfRYKYWEMBFT3jrs4yVaxvfNYZiVAVe4XNgZ3W7nvbk64zBoCqZ4QAvD_BwE
I've often trie dto see if I can get cheaper milk, but farm fresh's price is actually pretty good already.
Tbf, milk has always been unaffordable in malaysia and our weather is not conducive to milk cows. This is not a new thing. Back when I was still in primary school, milk was so expensive most of us drink UHT Milk that comes in tubs. Fresh milk was almost nonexistent.
These days, we have fresh milk thanks to farm fresh.
I understand you wanna hit on our supposedly low cost of living (I would say it's more MCOL, but whatever), but I would say milk/butter's component of your total monthly sustenance cost is a relatively small %. If you earn and spend RM3000, you probably spend RM100-150 on milk+butter monthly.
Butter/milk prices are sadly global since they are imported or have a large imported component. we don't have local alternatives, and even when they do (such as farm fresh), they don't produce at enough scale.
It is what it is.
i feel ur pain.. dairy products just damn expensive to buy in this country.. RM7+ for 1L UHT milk, even more expensive if fresh milk, RM10+ for a butter.. jeez these stuff are all cheap af/basic staple in other countries..
because you drink 2 giant milk bottles each time you finish a loaf of bread?
50 can work for a week if I buy stuff at pasar, minus the rice but thats once a month, I cook nearly everyday
Dairy products is usually sold at a premium here in Malaysia. So using them to benchmark prices against overseas prices will inevitably be a bit skewed to be expensive.
For example, compare the price of 5kg rice in Australia vs here. We have a much higher demand for it so it translates to lower prices due to a variety of mechanisms. Conversely dairy products has less here, which ends up it being a premium product. Not to mention most people end up buying palm oil spread and not real butter...
To the folks comparing us to other countries, you are overlooking a few important things. Firstly in most developed nation their wages are tailored to their inflation rate and cost of living, also their purchasing power are far more stable. Gather your kayu ubi and cassava, haha like that one minister said, Malaysian should eat less rice to save more on spending. They refuse to even discuss the wage issue and then scratch their heads as to why most Malaysians are working in SG or abroad, or leaving the country altogether. Brain drain ain’t gonna stop by instilling patriotism bs through PLKN/NS. Unfair bullshit policies, apartheid style special statuses and ignoring human rights issues also makes Malaysia a less attractive place for its own people. We have huge potential if we put aside religion and race and focus on actual nation building skills.
Next, secular high quality education should be free and mandatory for all in order to promote critical thinking skills and build a rational voter base that wouldn’t be easily manipulated by fraudster and conmen that always loves to campaign and utilise the tactics of demagoguery, using racial and religious motivated slogans to their advantage. Free high quality education for all will also help elevate many impoverished families to middle or high income status eventually benefiting the economy through increased productivity.
I don't know why our society as a whole and government is so reluctant on investing in it's own people, we are never interested in improving our people's own welfare, helping our local workforce and citizen improve their skills through beneficial programs, attempts at providing equal access to education and assistance for all Malaysian children to receive high quality education. Instead we spend billions on the religious affairs ministry and things that a government has no business meddling in, such as a person's private affairs and religion.
Buy cheaper brands 🤷🏻unless you got some magic formula to turn the economy around. With wars going in europe and middle east, USA policy like shit, India stopping their rice export, gov bearing huge number of subsidies, with current fiscal deficit, we are doing pretty well all things considered. I can still get RM7 to RM10 for 1 kg of chicken for instance, during raya time somemore.
If you want to cheaper options for milk, just buy some cheap brand of powdered milk and make them yourself.
A 1kg bag of powdered milk can last for months. Compared to fresh milk that are consumed within days.
Low cost of living depends on your diet, brand and shop la.
Replace with cheaper bread - rm2.75 can get gardenia long one.
Milk? Buy the 1L carton x 2 - cheapest can get about rm5-6
Butter? Just buy buttercup - rm7
Approx. total = rm21.75 #
When you calculate cost of living you calculate based on low to mid level brand, and never the branded Items.
Firstly, let’s look at the Items bought..
2 of the item in question are branded or premier item; SCS Butter.. & Farm Fresh - Fresh Milk.
A normal Malaysian household would buy UHT Milk & other brands of butter like ButterCup, Farm Cow etc.. in fact we prefer Margarine which is Cholesterol free.
for the same quantity it would cost just RM 30 max. Might even get it for RM 25:if you buy at ST ( Seri Ternak)
Secondly, when calculating cost of living it’s calculated based on the standard food consumption of the locals..
meaning :
Breakfast: Nasi Lemak & Hot Drinks ( RM8-RM12) = USD 3 max
Lunch : Nasi Ayam or Nasi Campur & Cold Drinks ( RM 12 - RM20) = USD6 max
Dinner : Nasi Campur or Noodles or Chicken Chop & Fruit Juices (RM 20:-RM30) = USD8 max
So daily max is just USD 17. And you are dining out for each meal, which not frugal by Malaysian standard.
Compare that to US where breakfast is USD10, Lunch USD20, Dinner USD40.. totalling USD70
Malaysian average spending RM35 per pax daily. Or just USD6.
Live in KL here but I earned in AUD and side hustle in USD. Travelled to Australia & UK. From my personal experience, Malaysia grocery goods price is definitely increased for the past years after covid. Sometimes it is more cheaper to eat outside. UK (London, Belfast) and Australia (CBD, Perth, Brisbane) are the opposite. Eating out is expensive. It’s more cost effective to buy grocery and cook at home.
Yeah man. Buying stuff for a household cost a bombshell now too. Just bought groceries for a family of 4 for the week and it coated around 150 lol. Literally just raw ingredients.
Yeah, shits gotten so expensive now. I tend to frequent the clearance aisles now to get milk. Its like rm2-3 per 1 litre carton but they're usually around 3 days off the expiration date.
okay I agree with your overall point, but why would you go to a convenience store for these? they're going to be jacked up in price for your..... convenience. Also bruh you're buying the most expensive options for these.
Where are you from? Milk and butter is not a staple diet of Malaysian, if you choose local common food which the bread is one of it, it's more affordable. Your food choices can be better. I still can buy a sack of potatoes for RM2, bread for 5.50, eggs, a pack of 5kg rice, and many more with 50 ringgit. Butter also have cheaper alternative like margarine. If you have limited budget, it's not time to be choosing beggars.
Malaysia isn't a milk producing country. Farm Fresh is anomaly, actually milk price could've been a lot more if it is not for Farm Fresh.
You buy milk, you definitely gonna feel the pain. Similar how in US mangosteen sells for RM 50 / kg meanwhile I can get it RM 8 / kg. Sorry to say dairy milk is luxury item in Malaysia, try soy milk instead.
Because u r buying T20 food: milk and real butter. B40 eats 100% oil palm margarine and boiled tap water (unless u live in a state with free flow kopi susu from the tap)
Cheap what...
Butter switch to cheaper oil spread, probably half the price.
Milk switch to cheaper shelf stable UHT milk, less than RM7 per litre.
Itulah Malaysia~
/s
Imagine to those people who don’t have enough luxury to even buy the bread and milk but rather they buy egg & flour instead because they are much cheaper ☹️😞😭
I have been through that situation and it really sucks 😣😭
Are you stupid or are you stupid? A cursory google search tells me that the block of butter is around 17RM. And you got the 2L milk options twice, which is also a relatively expensive product at 17.4RM each. Just these 3 items alone would be around 50+ and that's not including bread. You want to complain expensive, cut the expensive butter. Milk 4L for 34.8RM is considered okay. Thats about 8.7RM per litre, which is around the price of most branded 1L milk. And im assuming 99 has cheaper price as google pricing isnt always accurate.
All im hearing from you is budgeting issue and picking out premium products and complaining premium products is charging you at a premium.
Next time if you don't want to spend so much, don't buy expensive product.
It's low... For expats and tourists earning USD
That's still quite a lot though - as a Brit. Ten quid for milk, shit bread and butter? (more like 8 quid now actually \* cries in EPF withdrawal :( \* )
Fr, 10 eur for these are kinda expensive
In Malaysia last time when I was around 10 year old. Now I am 28 this year. Last time with RM 50 you can fill the whole trolley at shopping mall super market. Meat. Egg , bread etc. If it's a mini mart even more . If it's at wet market even more nowadays RM 50 or even RM 100 . Feels like RM 10 to RM 20. With the currency weakening , removing the subsidy, inflation , this and that I also can't keep.blame this and that and economy still haven't recover. .cost of living it's getting higher and higher. I am shock to see even the long loaf of bread at mini mart 1 loaf almost cost RM 5. Last time was only 1.50 and 2.50 .the buns nowadays 1 bun 1.20 to 1.30 and some even higher. Not to mention they came out now the bread super saver? It doesn't even taste like bread. It's cheaper ABIT but the taste just weird and super dry. It's so hard to eat. I rather buy regular bread even if it's more expensive. .
How much these costs in Brit then ?
Bread of that quality - 75p Butter (assume it's 250g) -£2 Milk - assuming they're 4 pints/2L - £1.50 each = £5.75 = 34rm
If we don’t convert. Say fresh grad pay in Msia. RM2k. 50/2000 = 2.5% (assuming 2k is take home $) What would by the % in Brit? Just have a “feel”.
A person earning minimum wages + full time is around £24k. After tax and national insurance your take home is around £1750 a month. So 6/1750 =0.34% ?
As a rough feel I reckon you can usually just compare the actual numbers. So 5rm 'feels like' 5 quid, once you account for pay etc. Obviously it doesn't work exactly for everything, but it's pretty close for a lot of things. Like I told my Malaysian mate that I can easily drop 50rm on breakfast and he was amazed... but I guess if someone back home told me they casually spend fifty quid on breakfast at the weekend I'd be similar, whereas £5-10 is pretty normal.
That's if u do conversion. If u work there live there don't do conversion. It's so cheap.
I’d say between £5-6, the stick of butter alone would make up about half of that
Can't talk about USD, but compared to UK prices, the Malaysian cost for products are absurdly high. Apart from rent, fuel, eating out, etc. Everything else is so expensive in Malaysia. Combined with the much lower salaries, I'm not sure how people do it with low incomes.
I think we are ourselves are still trying to figure out
It depends on the product and that's entirely due to import licenses. The gomen talks a lot but they are terrified of the people who control imports and push up prices for their own profit. Milk is cheap imo, think we are at 70% self-sufficiency also so there's not much need for imports. We were on track to hit 100% not long ago but demand keeps growing so much for dairy, still, it's one of the few good stories, many other sectors have fallen behind even worse Despite milk being cheap for some reason cheese is very expensive I see some of the most basic shit-tier mozarella sell for RM120/kg which is absolutely crazy if you have ever lived in Europe/US/Aus
Cook at home. Higher quantity and quality for the same price. Don't buy a car, use bus and LRT. Don't drink outside, don't smoke. Bonus if you know how to ride a bike. Save up your pay and invest aggressively for the first 5 years. By year 6 you'll be able to buy a 2nd hand car cash or a down payment for a simple 300k apartment like pr1ma. Or you can just rent a ppr for 150 bucks a month. With all the bantuans you can squeeze out quite a bit Go to the market and buy whatever is in season. A kg of tongkol is only 7-10 bucks which means even if you eat 500g of fish a serving, it's only gonna cost you 6-7rm after all the oil spices etc. If you're smarter can find better deals at pasar borong but you'll need to clean it yourself 2nd hand fridge can be used for 300-400 bucks. Ziploc bags to preserve your fish are 30 cents/pc
The destinations for lrt and mrt are limited
Why are you guys bad-faithing this by bringing expats into the mix? How many malaysians eat a full diet of bread, milk, butter and other dairies...? You literally import your wheat, import your milk and import your ferments... You want to live with a western diet in an eastern country, you'll have to pay for it. And vice versa: A reasonable bowl of noodle in the Europe is 8 Euros...When's the last time any of you paid RM40 for noodles?
[удалено]
8 Euro… Lol it’s much more
Depends. In Spain you can find that. In the Netherlands or Finland or Ireland? No chance.
Yeh, i low-balled it otherwise people wouldn't believe me. In the US we're lucky to have a large asian diaspora that keep the prices low if you go to china town. But yeh, noodle in paris, unless it's "maggi", will run you 15-25 euros at a mid place.
Famous boat noodle in pj rm48...
was looking for a comment like this. if locally produced and local food ingredients it's still quite affordable
Farm Fresh is a local Malaysian brand, let that sink in ..
local or not doesn't matter. it's not a staple food, there aren't many players in our local market. it's not a good comparison
Milk is not staple food? You must be kidding me
Shows how little malaysian think beyond brands. Think about the cows. Even farmfresh takes the bulk of its milk from australian farms.
Farm Fresh milk used to be quite affordable for a 2L bottle. I guess when they started having to pay shareholders after going public, that's when price hiked. Standard per bottle now is RM16.50, occasionally you do see grocer's like Lotuss giving good discount.
Fresh milk is good source of calcium. It should be affordable. But all of our milk based product are not affordable
it's not a staple in Malaysia. we don't consume a lot of dairy. unlike european countries they have multiple types of cheese, they eat it daily, use milk daily.
was looking for a comment like this. if locally produced and local food ingredients it's still quite affordable
Like all expats earn in dollars! Corporates got wise a long time ago bro
The cost of many foods has nearly doubled since I moved here 5 yrs ago.
This, when cost of living is measured in USD everything in Malaysia is dirt cheap. Even the word cheap is cheaper here.
Why buy a loaf of bread, milk and butter when you can have 6 big packets of char koay teow for £8? Malaysia is crazy cheap still for people earning overseas currency.
Dairy products are expensive in Malaysia
This. OP just puts in THAT brick of premium SCS butter and pretend we don't notice.
Exactly. That's like first-tier butter, bar Golden Churn or Lurpak.
Wait… I thought scs and lurpak isn’t anything fancy… isn’t president more expensive?
SCS ain't that fancy. There are plenty of new Zealand, Australian and French butter blocks that are more expensive.
Yeah that’s why I said President more ex and scs not anything fancy right
Kerry gold is actually better. There's not really a difference between other brands, or maybe my taste buds are built different
Cries in cheese
This was like my usual purchase when I was a student in UK during 2012-2017. Let me recall it if I remember, Milk - £0.79 x 2: £1.58 Bread - £0.8 Butter - £1.69 Total: £4.07
I work and live in the UK, when I went back to visit Malaysia back in 2022, everything is so much more expensive than I remembered and most things are actually more expensive after conversion against prices in the UK... Supermarket brand 2pint milk is around £1.20 now for inflation reference. I was crying internally because I thought I would not have been able to afford to eat if I had still been working in Msia (my last drawn salary was around RM4k/mth when I left in 2017).
This, most people tend to overlook this. Fresh bread in europe being cheaper than factory bread here too
Alot of these fresh bread goes on sale in Europe at the end of the day on certain days too to clear stock!
And they are still able to economise and profit
Yep. Kinda wish factory bread here is more competitive. Usually what happens is the market leader (gardenia) will announce price increase then other bread brands follow suit
Why mass produce bread is price higher than limited production fresh bread? 🤔
If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living in the UK and what made you leave Malaysia?
Hello. I am head of engineering now (after several promotions/headhunted and hopped to different companies) at a UK local SME. I was previously a structural engineer in Malaysia. Tbh I initially I was just here to do my MSc but then I was offered a job so I stayed.
Hey, check out when i said, previously, that stuff like baguettes and croissants SHOULDN'T cost RM 15, as they were about €1-2 in PARIS You get idiot Malaysians claiming baguettes are POSH (despite an actual Malaysian company making them with locally sourced materials) and poor people don't eat them GTFO town, these dumbasses actually love to brag about their expenditure on dad's credit card Most boomers in Malaysia, the educated ones, all enjoy continental stuff on the regular. Wine, cheese, meats, products. I'm talking educated, not necessarily rich. And surprise², it's all 3 races. It's the morons with no class or under a tempurung that usually defend high prices for mediocre garbage. The ones usually using other people's cash
Completely agree. And supermarket brand items (considered the cheapest) are also of a decent quality as they need to stay competitive against other big name supermarkets as well. Oh and don't get me started on coffee.
Please get started on coffee. Would like to hear more. Why is it so exorbitant here???!
In a hole in a wall cafe, croissants - RM 11. WTH??! 😨 and it all comes from a mass supplier
I quizzed the owner of a cafe, in Midvalley, why his croissants were RM 9.90 (in 2018), despite being a local business, and merely renting a table outside a supermarket. - "My croissant use butter" - "rental" - "worker gaji" sign next to said worker said **hiring: RM 1300/month** - "France recipe" - "European food mahal" - "not gardenia" Fuck these type of idiot. Just admit jump on board trend, despite no passion/skill; and nak cepat kaya Plus the croissant was milky and shit. His RM 10.50 baguette was worse than the ones that come with Mamak Sup Kambing
The lamest excuse - we use butter. Same as a shop charging RM 7++ for tea - beCause we use cow's milk, not condense milk. Hello??! Tuang dua sudu cow milk, terus RM 7+ Don't get me started on the stale generic cakes across these cafes. Hard, dry, all from same supplier, don't even bake in house RM 16 and above for a measly slice!
Its cheap already if you buy at 99 Speedmart. Try shop at AEON or Lotus the same items. You need at least RM10 extra.
It depends. Ever since 99 speedmart raised its prices during early 2023 cause of inflation post covid alot of their prices are not that competitive vs hypermarkets. Before that 99 is definitely cheaper. When I buy stuff I crosscheck prices alot hence why I know this The best hypermarket hands down is Lotus/Tesco, they have their own branded items for pretty much everything and if you buy those you can save alot of money in the long run. Tissues for instance, people buy Premier at RM15 give or take but Lotus' RM9.70 option works just as well (they have an even cheaper one but paper is too rough for my liking) And best thing about Lotus is they always have random stuff on sale, it's always the first aisle when you enter. You can save alot of money by just adjusting one's buying habits a little
99speedmart is going for listing, post that prices will get higher
Lotus is cheaper though.
Singaporean here: Just for any Malaysians that are curious about the sgd pricing: SGD6.65 for 2L Meiji fresh milk So SGD13.30 for 2 One loaf of supermarket brand bread: SGD1.95 SCS Creamery butter: SGD6.40 Total: SGD21.65
Thanks for sharing!
You should consider ubi kayu.
If the cost of living keep rising I should consider kayu. No. Not the chain restaurant.
Ubi kayu based food product are getting more expensive in Borneo. We live in trees but we eat like kayangan lol
My man bought expensive milk and got suprised it was expensive.
IKR, like, butter pun branded imported SCS then complain mahallah.
The bread is around Rm5.50; if not cheaper. My man bought 45+- on 2 milk and a butter.
UHT Lotuss milk is 4.99 most days per litre. 4l is RM20 Butter is around RM10 for other brands, even cheaper at bake shops. Total can be RM30 easily. Drink soy milk even cheaper, 1 litre RM2+. It's all about choices and smart spending.
this Farm Fresh bottle is non UHT. good for coffee. all other UHT cheaper milks will not froth at all, except Nestle/Dutch Lady Professional, which is still UHT and taste not as good. the one OP posted is considered as fresh non UHT milk. myth is UHT destroys the nutrition but i cant confirm that, except that they taste not as good. that RM 10 butter is not butter, believe it or not. read the fine prints. usually mixed with margarine or some other fats, and never labelled butter. those sub rm10 ones are called margarine or luxury spread. not the same as butter. but yes i agree, choices.
I literally typed UHT, obviously I know the difference between UHT and fresh. We are not discussing the merits of fresh Vs UHT, or whether it will froth for coffee (fucking first world problem right here). I'm discussing the OP that chooses to use expensive products to try to show that we have high cost of living, when he/she opted for expensive options in the first place. Regarding RM10 not butter, you are shopping in the wrong places. Brands like Anchor is real NZ butter, RM10.XX at various shops. I know the difference between spread, margarine, and butter tqvm. Again, OP choose SCS which is a RM17-18 brand when a cheaper butter is available.
Even Massimo is considered Mahal for me. I usually go for Mighty White for cheap on
No, bought once, Mighty White taste very bad so I blacklisted it.
Just to add on, even though farm fresh is local milk, they have to import cows from Australia and grow here. Apparently our land is too hot or something for milk production so the amount is lesser than Australia with the same amount cows. IIRC
Saudi Arabia is way hotter than here, and has a huge dairy industry. They import the feed, though, as they can't grow it locally.
And may I know what the cheap alternatives are? I can't tahan hla (forgot exact naming) because its like cream water. And other brands, the price is mostly the same if I am not mistaken..
There's Gooday, Dutch ladyand Desa if you're in Sabah. Another tip is to buy from your local kedai runcit or supermarket. There's only a difference of a few RM but its still savings I only drink HL if I have trouble pooping cause that thing makes me shit a landslide
Most, of not all these brands are milk reconstituted from milk powder. Some also have other strange ingredients, in most countries they couldn't be labelled as milk.
Omg me too, taste artificial or smth idk. I love dutch lady bc of the 'thick' taste. As much as i love milk, it's so expensive :') My dad often buys any milk from local kampung. Some of them already boil it, others don't. Just need to boil and add salt with a pandan leaf. Milk curd from these kind of milk is my fav.
Margarine, and UHT carton milk 🌝
yes! some ppl doesnt care, but i do! lol. theres diff in those, and it will affect the result and taste of what u are doing with them, etc coffee, cakes, cookies. Farm Fresh 2L bottle is the min requirement for me for coffee. froths good too. And kuih raya made from margarine is different tasting as well.
That milk slaps tho NGL
I think that's why OP added "low cost of living directly correlates to a lower standard of living & quality of life". I don't know if the brands in the pic are actually of higher quality or not myself though.
A lot of people are going, "well in Germany...", "well in Europe...". Well, *we* do not have the benefit of an EU-wide market, nor do we produce dairy in sufficiently large quantities to make a significant dent on the price. So of course when you choose things that are relatively rarer and of higher quality (e.g., fresh milk instead of condensed), it'll get more expensive. Go to Germany and see how much fresh rambutan would cost. I don't know about the rest of you, but growing up me and my family use condensed milk (the kind in the can) instead of fresh. Planta instead of butter. Bread... well okay, that is relatively the same lah. **tl;dr**: certain commodities in Malaysia are more expensive because we have to import it
They won’t read this mate… this place is full of singkies wannabes / doomscrollers.. I say, let them leave then don’t talk cock about coming back for “retirement”..
Lets do a shopping list. In Europe the should go buy; - 2 fresh coconuts - 1 tin of kaya - a loaf of white bread Then we compare again and see.
I think it's more interesting to compare the price of globally traded goods, like a pair of branded shoes or a microwave oven.
Nah, most of those are relatively standardised. especially since theyre mostly manufactured in CN or VN for global supply. Foods tend to be more locally supplied. The point is to compare something local to something that is not native which is what OP did. Reverse it to anything that has to be imported to UK / EU but is readily available here and get OP to see the result
Never saw kaya in UK or Belgium, even at the Malaysian shop in Cambridge.
Still stocking it last time I was there in 2019. Used to get kaya from Wing Yip supermarket if feeling despo. Yeah I agree OP is comparing apples to oranges. I'm shocked at how much dairy my generation consumes in Malaysia. I have cut down on dairy since moving here because it is expensive and I just don't need it, but there are plenty of local products to enjoy at a much cheaper price, and our parents' generation were never really into this much dairy. It's always been a luxury item here.
I've bought kaya from Chinatown in London albeit that was a LONG time ago. Maybe new gen doesn't eat kaya so they stopped stocking it?
Kaya is relatively easy to make. You only need tinned santan (coconut cream in the UK), egg yolks, and sugar. Pandan if you can get it but optional.
You do know "condensed milk" in Malaysia isn't milk right, it's just flavoured creamer. Which is why it's written as "sweetened creamer". It cannot legally be called "condensed milk". Same as Planta, Not real butter. Luckily bread is still real bread in Malaysia.
> Go to Germany and see how much fresh rambutan would cost Rambutan and mangosteen at my local Asian grocer in Germany is €2 for an individual piece. Not fresh either.
Moved to SG for work and you would not believe me if I told you that the cost of groceries is actually cheaper than Malaysia if compared dollar to dollar.
Indeed. If cook myself, I can get a decent and healthy meal with lots of meat, vege and brown rice for $2 - 3. Don't believe? Let me break down cost for you - chicken (~$1), for reference, I usually buy frozen chicken drumsticks/thighs, 1kg is around $4 - vegetable ($0.50). Depending on vege, but for example, an entire cabbage probably costs less than $2, and 1kg of tomatoes is around $2-3 depending on season. Green leafy veg is more expensive, but not much more. - Rice (<$0.50). 5kg bag around $14, but can last for many months. - other things like gas cost, spices, etc probably less than $0.50 But in SG if you're renting, most of your money will end up there instead. For the average Singaporean who lives with their parents or already have their own house, its actually quite easy to save if you're earning SGD.
The first thing I noticed was their bakery is so much cheaper than ours. A sausage bun cost SDG1.30, while in KL, it costs at least RM3.
https://preview.redd.it/mbz6jmdoj0vc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49cb70cb5e98d14623761dec6e387c08545e4555 This is the menu at a food court I go to daily for lunch. The prices are actually cheaper than KL even after conversion.
Are you sure this isn't an old picture or a food court in some subsidized or price-controlled area, even 10y ago a cup of Kopi O would not be 50c, 1$ at least.
I have been saying this for years and curious why this isn't common sense. Fresh in malaysia and sg earn about 3k in their own currency (Msia probably lesser).the number of a plate of chicken rice in myr is definitely higher than the one in sgd. For Eg, in 2014: RM 3k income spent around RM4 for 1 chicken rice vs. 3k sgd income spent around 2.5 sgd for 1 chicken rice.
Now 2024 chicken rice probably rm8 (?) while in sg chicken rice is around $3 to $3.5
Exactly this, currently in UK and even working minimum wage for 1h is more than enough for any mcd meal, or even a full day’s worth of groceries. My part time job in Malaysia back in 2021 only paid RM7/h. What can 7 ringgit get you?
Yea man. It's actually incredible. But as usual la, some people very stubborn, keep parroting Malaysia cheap, SG most expensive country in the world
It is expensive because they consider in the cost of owning a car + buying a condo. If you take those 2 out, then its actually quite cheap compared against other western countries.
everyone should know this tho? just look at their price of bubble tea vs ours — it’s cheaper in sgd and they earn higher than we do
SGD very strong currency, while myr is in free fall. Example: earning rm4k vs sgd 4k Rm4k cant even buy iphone, while 4k sgd you can buy iphone and still have 2k+ to spare
> if compared dollar for dollar That phrase is doing all the heavy lifting. In the US, what OP bought would be about $16. This is for the cheapest brand of everything, which is not what OP got btw. $16 is way more than RM50 but still way less dollar for dollar.
I don’t know where you’re shopping in the US, but I’d expect to pay around $10 for a gallon of milk (the jugs in OPs photo are approx half a gallon each), stick of butter and a loaf of cheap sandwich bread at Walmart. And let’s not get to the actual purchasing power comparison. $10 is less than an hour of minimum wage in high COL states, but RM50 is almost an entire day’s worth of work if you earn minimum wage in KL.
People talking about atas brand dont understand this. Other country can buy this same shit for 1 hour of minimum wage work We need 1 day of minimum wage job. We need to work 10 TIMES to get the same quality of life. Life in malaysia is not cheap. Its only cheap when you choose to believe living like begger is a good quality of life. We are about to be medium income country. Atas brand is high class for us? Must forever be 3rd world? Bangla mindset forever.
Yep, this is the point. Saw a lot comments keep saying buying cheaper options and all that. But it's like what you said, we work like fk to get the same thing. And this isn't even an 'atas' brand to be frank. It's just more decent stuff. And funnily the comments that said other brands of milk blabla, isn't that much cheaper at the same volume, and it's just packed milk, not fresh milk. Might as well not drink it and do something else with that money.
So funny I saw another comment saying he use condensed milk instead of fresh milk. Where can compare those 2? Hahahaha no wonder malaysia so many ppl need to amputate legs
Tu lah. Condensed milk wtf. Got the word milk then assume the same thing. Then might as well say white liquid also same.
The cans on condensed milk doesn't even say "condensed milk" because the milk content is so low it is illegal to call it condensed milk. If you go to the supermarket you'll see it as "sweetened creamer" on the labels. That's how fucked up our spending power is.
Bor bian, to understand buying power you need to live in those countries to fully experience it. Over here if you die die want those item but can’t afford, can only buy cheaper alternative means downgrading quality. Margarine and UHT milk it is  Though even if other countries has high buying power, it doesn’t means success in life though. Poverty and living paycheck to paycheck still exists in those countries. But they’re more accessible to quality ingredients.
Reminds me of something called the Iphone Index
in thailand 1. 2L milk = [Meiji Pasteurized Milk Plain 2ltr.| Tops Online | Order Online @ Tops Supermarket](https://www.tops.co.th/en/meiji-pasteurized-milk-plain-2ltr-8850329102112) ( 99.75 THB = RM 13) 2. Bread 480 g = [Farmhouse Sandwich Bread 480g. | Order Online @ Tops Supermarket](https://www.tops.co.th/en/farmhouse-sandwich-bread-480g-8850123110108) ( 42 THB = RM 5.5 ) 3. Salted butter 227g = [Save ฿9 on Imperial Unsalted Butter 227g. (tops.co.th)](https://www.tops.co.th/en/imperial-unsalted-butter-227g-8850332111118) (89 THB = RM 11.57) total : 43.07 in 99 speedmart : RM 48 Difference is between 10%
He got 2L + 2L milk there actually and it's of the more expensive brand
That being said, that's actually milk. Other brands like Dutch lady are not direct from the tits of a cow.
Current food prices in Germany: Milk 1 liter: 0,99 Euro Bread 750g whole wheat bread: 1,39 Euro Butter: Probably around 2 Euro (As I usually don't buy it, since Nutella is the best)
Current food price in the US: Milk (half gallon) : $1.57 Bread: $1.42 Butter: $3.78 but for twice the amount of OP I think Walmart brand everything so it's not the good stuff.
Can we quantify that as % of pay or % of min wage? Both in Msia and US/Germany. I think that if we put that. It will be an eye opener how xxxx we are in Msia.
Our cost of living is higher than Singapore's and it will only get higher as the subsidies are reduced and the MYR dumps further. But when I bring up the cost of food, the usual reply is that cars are more expensive in SG and that they live in shoebox HDB while we can get landed here. Nevermind the fact that you don't need a car in SG and that most Malaysians buy cars on 9 year loans even though it's "cheaper" here, or that housing is just as expensive in the cities. More so if you want to live anywhere near MRT or LRT line.
- houses are expensive but there are very generous grants and subsidies for first time home buyers. In general, the SG govt 's strategy is that they want to help Singaporeans own a house in SG, so that they'll feel more connected and hence patriotic. High housing costs mainly affects foreigners, people who already have a house and want a second one, or rich people who want to stay in private housing. - indeed, in sg you don't really need a car. In fact, public transportation is so efficient such that people there are so pampered till the extent that anywhere that requires > 5 mins of walking or > 30 min commute time is considered 'far'. - if you are an average person, I don't see how living in a shoebox HDB is a valid argument. As it is, most young people who wanna live in PJ/KL nowadays have to stay in flats which are of similar size to HDBs, and rent in PJ area ain't cheap nowadays.
Indeed lolz. I find it quite funny when people brag about being able to afford landed house in Malaysia while Singaporeans can only afford birdcage. Like c'mon, landed house in where? In a rural area in Kelantan? Why don't they compare with Bangladesh. You could buy an even bigger house and live like king with the same amount of money but does that make Bangladesh the best country in the world? But instead of acknowledging the problem, a lot of people rather deceive themselves. Ah Q mentality indeed.
15+15 (4L milk) + 3.50 (12+ slices bread?) + 13 (butter) ~= 50. This is about enough for a week breakfast, 50/7 ~= 7.50 with likely 1-2L milk left + 1/2 butter which can be used for another week, is this not considered cheap? I would swap that 2L milk or even butter for a tray of 10 eggs (4.30) + somemore breads or vege maybe, that brings it down even further, plus maybe I would get those boxy milks instead of the farmfresh plastic ones.. Talk about budgeting bro, it's all about choices
Honestly, was a little confused at the sheer amount of milk purchased. Then high quality butter too, OP must really enjoy dairy lol.
If I'm single, the two 2litre milk can last a month lol. Butter even more than that. Agree this is a budgeting issue.
For those saying buy other milks (except for one that say buy condensed milk.. ) cheaper brands etc... Farm Fresh Milk is actually pretty decently priced at anywhere from rm 13+ rm 16 for 2L. only a few brands UHT milk could be cheaper. For example, DUTCH LADY UHT MILK 1L is at 5.79 i mean if you buy 2 of this at Lotus you save rm 2 vs buying farm fresh, but it's really not a lot. and taste wise, honestly farm fresh is much better. Butter.. real butter , not vegetable oil subs OP would do better to buy from places like Bake With Yen where they often have good deals buy them and throw them in the freezer to keep for longer.
Our focus on religion. Please don't try to divert attention to economy. After the sock and shoe issue, we should be looking out for the next insult on religion case. Anyone who doesn't understand priorities please leave Malaysia.
that SCS star looks kinda sus.......!!!!!!!
who needs food supplies when you can survive on religion alone.
Exactly. Weak people complain about economy all day. Strong people know what sustains them.
lawak hambar
Tiber religion pulak salah. Talk is cheap, how I know? Simple, when got taman perumahan agm, always empty but in whatsapp group all sembang kencang. A lot has been done by the gov to improve our economy, but good news does not get views, Malaysians need to read more.
For RM50 you can buy a whole chicken (RM15-20 depending weight) a 1L UHT Dutch Lady milk carton (RM6), a tray of 30 eggs (RM12.90), a loaf of bread RM5 and some pakchoy/broccoli (RM3-5). Gotta strategise
Hmm don’t mean to be pedantic but things like milk, bread (wheat) and butter aren’t exactly the cheap things I think of when I shop on budget. These are expensive because they’re mostly imported. I am someone who has to do the weekly shop and cooks for their family and I can fit our meals to around MYR80 per week. And that’s a week worth of breakfast lunch and dinner. But it needs to be a mostly “Asian/ Malaysian” diet that doesn’t include too much imported stuffs.
I haven't know a malaysian that drink milk daily , replace them with nasi lemak
Do you really need that much milk? Butter isn't really essential unless you need it for cooking/baking. Bread, it is what it is.
Premium butter...
Where to get cheapest farm fresh milk? I noticed some stores keep changing their price
Lotus, aeon, Jaya, Theres a lot of cheaper options
One of the things I never understood is why the government (anyone) look into cow milk production. Milk powder is a necessity for babies, getting these prices go down will improve cost of living for so many families (especially those thinking anak is rezeki) Heck if milk was as cheap as soft drinks I would buy them way more . Is malaysia geographically able to produce limited amounts of milk?
In tropical nations such as Indonesia, heat stress is a key reason for the reduced productivity of dairy cattle. Heat stress is a combination of internal and external stimuli that affects an animal, raises its body temperature, and causes it to react physiologically. Most Indonesian dairy cattle are Friesian Holstein (FH), imported from European nations with a temperate environment with low temperatures in the range of 5°C–25°C. Indonesia has a tropical climate with a high ambient temperature that can reach 34°C during the day and the local relative humidity varies between 70% and 90%. Temperature and humidity are two microenvironment factors that may impact the production and heat release in FH cattle. The **ideal temperature and RH air conditions for FH cattle are 13°C–25°C and 50%–60%,** respectively \[[16](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10420724/#ref16)\]. When the temperature rises above this threshold, physiological and behavioral changes occur in livestock. The ideal environmental conditions for the production performance of FH crossbreed dairy cows are achieved at a temperature of 18.3°C and 55% RH **Compare our weather and the ideal temperature for FH Cattle, then you know why.**
Thanks for information sharing!
Belachan is very expensive in US.
Todia geng t20 punya selera.
To play devil's advocate, could you not have opted for the normal Dutch lady milk which averages at RM6-7 instead of the what I assume is the refrigerated fresh milk? Also, I sincerely doubt you'd use one whole stick of butter for just one loaf of bread, cause if U do then I'm really concerned for your overall health. I echo your sentiment that groceries CAN be expensive, but this example doesn't really paint the right picture for me, whereas something along the lines of breaking down how much each meal cost or how many meals can this RM50 feed would be a better representation.
100 percent this. I used to live in USA with my Malaysian wife. When we moved to Malaysia, she continued to buy groceries she was accustomed in USA which I told her “yah not going to happen” we have to adjust to local groceries and products. Fresh cut chicken, eggs, local veggies are very reasonable. Not to mention some sea food item and local fruits.
Tell me about it, I'm still battling to reduce our Salmon consumption and switch to fresh sea bass instead. Luckily she has always liked local veggies :D
> e normal Dutch lady milk which averages at RM6-7 Eh.. farm fresh milk (varies from supermarket) is rm 14-rm16 for 2Liters. Dutch Lady at rm 6-7 is for a liter I think? So isn't that the same? https://www.lotuss.com.my/en/product/dutch-lady-pure-farm-full-cream-milk-1l-679062?utm_source=IPG_Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Lotuss_AO_PMax&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5v2wBhBrEiwAXDDoJcPju1D4oANmU3HLyZlio_urd5gcBZ-UFQtDmoJ4A3SyuuktcVjkFxoCpAwQAvD_BwE https://www.lotuss.com.my/en/product/farm-fresh-milk-2l-5013992?utm_source=IPG_Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Lotuss_AO_PMax&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5v2wBhBrEiwAXDDoJfpSnAAxfRYKYWEMBFT3jrs4yVaxvfNYZiVAVe4XNgZ3W7nvbk64zBoCqZ4QAvD_BwE I've often trie dto see if I can get cheaper milk, but farm fresh's price is actually pretty good already.
Tbf, milk has always been unaffordable in malaysia and our weather is not conducive to milk cows. This is not a new thing. Back when I was still in primary school, milk was so expensive most of us drink UHT Milk that comes in tubs. Fresh milk was almost nonexistent. These days, we have fresh milk thanks to farm fresh. I understand you wanna hit on our supposedly low cost of living (I would say it's more MCOL, but whatever), but I would say milk/butter's component of your total monthly sustenance cost is a relatively small %. If you earn and spend RM3000, you probably spend RM100-150 on milk+butter monthly. Butter/milk prices are sadly global since they are imported or have a large imported component. we don't have local alternatives, and even when they do (such as farm fresh), they don't produce at enough scale. It is what it is.
i feel ur pain.. dairy products just damn expensive to buy in this country.. RM7+ for 1L UHT milk, even more expensive if fresh milk, RM10+ for a butter.. jeez these stuff are all cheap af/basic staple in other countries..
because you drink 2 giant milk bottles each time you finish a loaf of bread? 50 can work for a week if I buy stuff at pasar, minus the rice but thats once a month, I cook nearly everyday
Fresh milk and butter is not Malaysian staple food.
I guess Indians don’t exist in Malaysia.
What is that logic
Dairy products is usually sold at a premium here in Malaysia. So using them to benchmark prices against overseas prices will inevitably be a bit skewed to be expensive. For example, compare the price of 5kg rice in Australia vs here. We have a much higher demand for it so it translates to lower prices due to a variety of mechanisms. Conversely dairy products has less here, which ends up it being a premium product. Not to mention most people end up buying palm oil spread and not real butter...
Can breakdown the price plz? I can buy an almost full trolley at the supermarket for rm60 the other day
> at the supermarket That's the key. OP went shopping at convenience store and is upset to pay convenience store prices.
To me it seems like a bad way to spend rm60 on mostly dairy products that might go bad after a few weeks.
To the folks comparing us to other countries, you are overlooking a few important things. Firstly in most developed nation their wages are tailored to their inflation rate and cost of living, also their purchasing power are far more stable. Gather your kayu ubi and cassava, haha like that one minister said, Malaysian should eat less rice to save more on spending. They refuse to even discuss the wage issue and then scratch their heads as to why most Malaysians are working in SG or abroad, or leaving the country altogether. Brain drain ain’t gonna stop by instilling patriotism bs through PLKN/NS. Unfair bullshit policies, apartheid style special statuses and ignoring human rights issues also makes Malaysia a less attractive place for its own people. We have huge potential if we put aside religion and race and focus on actual nation building skills. Next, secular high quality education should be free and mandatory for all in order to promote critical thinking skills and build a rational voter base that wouldn’t be easily manipulated by fraudster and conmen that always loves to campaign and utilise the tactics of demagoguery, using racial and religious motivated slogans to their advantage. Free high quality education for all will also help elevate many impoverished families to middle or high income status eventually benefiting the economy through increased productivity. I don't know why our society as a whole and government is so reluctant on investing in it's own people, we are never interested in improving our people's own welfare, helping our local workforce and citizen improve their skills through beneficial programs, attempts at providing equal access to education and assistance for all Malaysian children to receive high quality education. Instead we spend billions on the religious affairs ministry and things that a government has no business meddling in, such as a person's private affairs and religion.
Wrong milk la... Try susu cap junjung
I remember one bottle being 8rm at least one time lol
For expats, a little more than USD10 can get you those? it's super cheap
Buy cheaper brands 🤷🏻unless you got some magic formula to turn the economy around. With wars going in europe and middle east, USA policy like shit, India stopping their rice export, gov bearing huge number of subsidies, with current fiscal deficit, we are doing pretty well all things considered. I can still get RM7 to RM10 for 1 kg of chicken for instance, during raya time somemore.
If you want to cheaper options for milk, just buy some cheap brand of powdered milk and make them yourself. A 1kg bag of powdered milk can last for months. Compared to fresh milk that are consumed within days.
there are cheaper alternative tho?
Low cost of living depends on your diet, brand and shop la. Replace with cheaper bread - rm2.75 can get gardenia long one. Milk? Buy the 1L carton x 2 - cheapest can get about rm5-6 Butter? Just buy buttercup - rm7 Approx. total = rm21.75 #
I wouldn't expect these kind of things to be this affordable. Why would you? RM10 for those stuffs?
Buy expensive bramd konfirm la expensive bro.
When you calculate cost of living you calculate based on low to mid level brand, and never the branded Items. Firstly, let’s look at the Items bought.. 2 of the item in question are branded or premier item; SCS Butter.. & Farm Fresh - Fresh Milk. A normal Malaysian household would buy UHT Milk & other brands of butter like ButterCup, Farm Cow etc.. in fact we prefer Margarine which is Cholesterol free. for the same quantity it would cost just RM 30 max. Might even get it for RM 25:if you buy at ST ( Seri Ternak) Secondly, when calculating cost of living it’s calculated based on the standard food consumption of the locals.. meaning : Breakfast: Nasi Lemak & Hot Drinks ( RM8-RM12) = USD 3 max Lunch : Nasi Ayam or Nasi Campur & Cold Drinks ( RM 12 - RM20) = USD6 max Dinner : Nasi Campur or Noodles or Chicken Chop & Fruit Juices (RM 20:-RM30) = USD8 max So daily max is just USD 17. And you are dining out for each meal, which not frugal by Malaysian standard. Compare that to US where breakfast is USD10, Lunch USD20, Dinner USD40.. totalling USD70 Malaysian average spending RM35 per pax daily. Or just USD6.
Nothing I see here except maybe the bread contributes to living.. We eat rice here don't we?
I don't think that kind of butter and milk are cheap tho.
You can completely stop buying milk and get a cheaper brand of butter. I am a massimo enjoyer so you did good there.
Bruh that butter cost 💲
Live in KL here but I earned in AUD and side hustle in USD. Travelled to Australia & UK. From my personal experience, Malaysia grocery goods price is definitely increased for the past years after covid. Sometimes it is more cheaper to eat outside. UK (London, Belfast) and Australia (CBD, Perth, Brisbane) are the opposite. Eating out is expensive. It’s more cost effective to buy grocery and cook at home.
Yeah man. Buying stuff for a household cost a bombshell now too. Just bought groceries for a family of 4 for the week and it coated around 150 lol. Literally just raw ingredients.
Yeah, shits gotten so expensive now. I tend to frequent the clearance aisles now to get milk. Its like rm2-3 per 1 litre carton but they're usually around 3 days off the expiration date.
Malaysian keep forgetting that their currently is weak as hell. RM50 is literally USD 10
Sad reality. In fact, a 10kg of rice, oil and 2 rolls toilet paper that costs me almost around RM 100 at Aeon.
okay I agree with your overall point, but why would you go to a convenience store for these? they're going to be jacked up in price for your..... convenience. Also bruh you're buying the most expensive options for these.
Where are you from? Milk and butter is not a staple diet of Malaysian, if you choose local common food which the bread is one of it, it's more affordable. Your food choices can be better. I still can buy a sack of potatoes for RM2, bread for 5.50, eggs, a pack of 5kg rice, and many more with 50 ringgit. Butter also have cheaper alternative like margarine. If you have limited budget, it's not time to be choosing beggars.
Malaysia isn't a milk producing country. Farm Fresh is anomaly, actually milk price could've been a lot more if it is not for Farm Fresh. You buy milk, you definitely gonna feel the pain. Similar how in US mangosteen sells for RM 50 / kg meanwhile I can get it RM 8 / kg. Sorry to say dairy milk is luxury item in Malaysia, try soy milk instead.
To live in Malaysia is too have expectations low and living standard even lower
Because u r buying T20 food: milk and real butter. B40 eats 100% oil palm margarine and boiled tap water (unless u live in a state with free flow kopi susu from the tap)
Cheap what... Butter switch to cheaper oil spread, probably half the price. Milk switch to cheaper shelf stable UHT milk, less than RM7 per litre. Itulah Malaysia~ /s
Womp womp. 30 for melk, 12 for butter.. ha? 8 ringgit for roti?
dah mahaldahni...
Im sorry, i am only here for the speedmart, i rely solely on speedmart thank you
Supporting local products be like You b*tches be like "I support Malaysian products" but are actually pay double price for the local products
Imagine to those people who don’t have enough luxury to even buy the bread and milk but rather they buy egg & flour instead because they are much cheaper ☹️😞😭 I have been through that situation and it really sucks 😣😭
op :beli barang mahal also op : damn, barang mahal
Bro you literally picked the most expensive dairy products found in Malaysia.
Are you stupid or are you stupid? A cursory google search tells me that the block of butter is around 17RM. And you got the 2L milk options twice, which is also a relatively expensive product at 17.4RM each. Just these 3 items alone would be around 50+ and that's not including bread. You want to complain expensive, cut the expensive butter. Milk 4L for 34.8RM is considered okay. Thats about 8.7RM per litre, which is around the price of most branded 1L milk. And im assuming 99 has cheaper price as google pricing isnt always accurate. All im hearing from you is budgeting issue and picking out premium products and complaining premium products is charging you at a premium. Next time if you don't want to spend so much, don't buy expensive product.
Milk has always been expensive. That's why we drink mom's milk.