When breakfast becomes a burden

Borneo Post

10-05-2025

Once a humble RM4 per bowl, now a breakfast luxury. Minced meat noodles with egg – comfort in a bowl, but with each price hike, the warmth gets a little harder to afford.
FOR generations of Malaysians, our daily rhythm looks something like this: roti canai in the morning, nasi lemak for lunch, satay for dinner.
For others, it's kolo mee or kampua mee or butter kaya toast to start the day, mixed vegetable rice at midday, and something simple for dinner.
These aren't indulgences. They're comfort food – warm, familiar, filling, and above all, affordable.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) recently released some figures showing that roti canai had gone up from 90 sen in 2011 to RM1.54 in 2024.
Nasi lemak climbed from RM2.03 to RM3.68. Chicken satay, once sold for 51 sen a stick, now costs RM1.09.
That's more than doubled in just over a decade.
However, we know those numbers are already behind reality.
In Kuching, where I did a quick check with a Muslim friend this week, a plain roti canai is now RM1.60 to RM2 per piece. Nasi lemak starts at RM4 and easily hits RM6 with extras.
Chicken satay? RM1.20 to RM1.50 a stick.
The pain behind these rising prices is not just about statistics. It's about the shrinking space for ordinary Malaysians – people like you and me – to live, eat, and breathe without counting every sen(se).
Not long ago, RM5 could get you a full breakfast: roti canai, a hot teh tarik, maybe even an egg.
Today, that same RM5 might just get you a drink – and maybe a half slice of kaya toast.
Even noodles haven't been spared. For many Malaysian Chinese, breakfast means kampua mee or kolo mee. These used to cost RM3 to RM4, probably just two years back.
Today? RM6 to RM7. The change didn't creep in – it stormed in, and it hasn't stopped.
We often talk about inflation in broad, detached terms, but the pinch hits hardest first thing in the morning.
Breakfast is supposed to be the easiest, most affordable meal of the day.
Now, it's another stress point for families, workers, retirees, and students alike.
And the squeeze doesn't stop at the coffee shop. It hits the home kitchen too.
From May 1, the government has cut the egg subsidy from 10 sen to five sen.
By August, that support will be gone altogether. It may sound small, but in a country where eggs are a staple in everything from egg fried rice to soft-boiled egg on toast to 'char kway teow', this matters.
An egg isn't just an egg. It's one of the best proteins. And it is not a burden to those watching their weight.
It's the default item in school lunchboxes. It's what families turn to for a quick, affordable meal.
Add 20 sen here, 30 sen there – and it begins to bite, especially when prices for other food are all climbing too.
What does the government say? Well, they are proud to announce that inflation has slowed. DoSM said the national rate dropped to 1.8 per cent in 2024, down from 2.5 per cent the year before.
We're told Malaysia is doing better than many other countries, where inflation averaged 5.7 per cent.
But numbers on paper don't reflect the stress in our lives. Most people don't judge inflation by percentages – they keep a watchful eye over what their RM10 can still buy.
And truly, it's not much you can buy with our red RM10 note.
We're not talking about imported cheese or salmon here. We're talking about breakfast. The kind that used to power workers through the morning, or tide students over until recess.
When even that becomes too expensive, what's left?
It's the everyday folks who feel it most: the office worker grabbing something quick before clocking in; the parent packing three school-bags and planning three meals; the retiree who used to enjoy a peaceful morning at the 'kopitiam'.
Now everyone's thinking twice. Skipping the egg. Settling for toast. Drinking plain water instead of 'kopi'.
And it's not just food. Electricity, petrol, groceries – everything feels like it's inching upwards.
But breakfast hits differently. Because breakfast is personal. It sets the tone for the day.
And when we start the day stressed over prices, that stress lingers.
Some say: 'It's just 50 sen more. Just RM1.'
But it's never just that. It adds up for a family of five. It adds up when the pay stays the same year after year. It adds up when subsidies vanish, quietly.
What's being lost isn't just affordability – it's ease. The ease of ordering your usual without double-checking your wallet.
The comfort of chatting over breakfast without glancing at the menu price.
The little pleasure of starting your day with something warm and familiar.
Perhaps the government has its reasons for removing subsidies. Maybe it makes sense on paper.
But what also needs to make sense is the support offered to those now paying more.
If subsidies are taken away, then other forms of help must come in, whether targeted aid, or stricter monitoring of price hikes.
And where are you, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living?
Please step up!
What we don't need is silence, or to be told everything's fine when our breakfast says otherwise.
We need real conversation on easing daily burdens, on ensuring our most basic meals remain affordable and enjoyable, on why kampua mee now requires second thoughts.
On how Malaysians, bit by bit, are giving up the very rituals that once brought us joy.
Because when we can no longer afford to eat in peace at the start of our day, it says something. Not just about food, but about the kind of society that we're becoming.
Let's not one day wake up and realise: we've priced ourselves out of our own mornings, while billionaires like Bill Gates, who was just in Singapore, fly in to savour our everyday hawker fares like roti prata, chicken rice, fishball soup, and satay.