ARE subsidies effective at lightening the burden of the people? We Malaysians appear to be living a life of privilege, with all the wonderful subsidies we are getting, from petrol, oil, eggs and many more.
But it appears the reality is not so simple. Recently a viral video shows a Thai national transporting many boxes of subsidised Malaysian cooking oil in the south of Thailand.
According to the video recorder, the brand involved was Ikan Emas. The thought provoking video raises a very pertinent question—who is Malaysia truly subsidising?
Rakyat kita terjumpa minyak masak paket bersubsidi Malaysia berkotak-kotak di Selatan Thai….
Camna boleh lepas tu agaknya…. bukan sikit pic.twitter.com/8DAmPGSQ5A
— MYNEWSHUB (@mynewshub) May 5, 2025
Watching the video, netizen @89izuan lamented that Malaysians could only buy two to three packets of subsidised cooking oil while someone from outside the country could get them in many boxes.
He suggested that those Malaysian traitors involved should be caught and have their citizenship revoked.
Also, @shxh__ said he once went to the shop to buy these subsidised cooking oil, only to find that they were out of stock. “So they were actually in Southern Thailand,” he said.
“It is more expensive to sell outside so they sell outside to multiply their profit,” said @BatChe21083183.
@maulcoal further suggested that the authorities in charge of protecting the border are the ones who allowed the smuggling, that there was corruption involved.
Then there was @mohammad_nabbil stating that it was time the Malaysian government built a wall separating the borders much like the US and Mexico.
Prompted by the topic, @JoseRom1998 found it weird that Malaysia limits its subsidised cooking oil for the people although the nation is the second largest producer of palm oil.
On another note, @AifaAluka claiming that the price of 1kg of cooking oil there stood at around 700 to 750 baht. “I once asked the people there when I went to the night market in Thailand,” said @AifaAluka.
Most saddening is the comment from @taufiqamir19E who said this was not shocking since corruption is rampant from top to bottom.
But of course, smuggling is not a new story, especially when Thailand is involved. One can only wonder about the amount of goods which should have benefitted Malaysians, but have gone over to the other side.—May 6, 2025
Main image: @mynewshub (X)
