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Straits Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Live pig prices doubled price skyrocketed Malaysia pork retail prices
Petaling Jaya's Old Town Pasar pork seller Mr Tong said customers have reduced their purchases of pork belly from 1kg to 600g. ST PHOTO: LU WEI HOONG TANJUNG SEPAT, Selangor – The sound of meat being chopped by cleavers echoed through eight pork butcher stalls at Petaling Jaya 's Old Town Pasar (market) on May 17, belying a crisis faced by the Malaysian stallholders. Local butchers are grappling with surging pork prices due to African Swine Fever (ASF) which affected farms in Tanjung Sepat, Selangor, one of the country's largest pig-producing hubs, at the start of the year . Mr Tong, 50, one of the butchers at the market in Selangor, said his customers have started reducing their pork-belly purchases to cope with the higher prices. 'They would previously buy 1kg of pork belly. Now, it's maybe just one or two strips, around 600g,' said Mr Tong, who preferred to be called Zhu Yok Fatt (Pork Fatt), told The Straits Times on May 17. Today, 1kg of fresh pork belly in Klang Valley costs RM40 (S$12), a surge of 33 per cent from RM30 in 2020. The current market price is at a two-year high , forcing some consumers to switch to more budget-friendly alternatives such as chicken and fish. Office executive Hew Jin Hao, 31 said he has already started substituting pork with chicken as a more wallet -friendly option, or occasionally seafood as a luxury treat, compared to two years ago. 'In 2022, a typical pork shoulder cost around RM18 per kg. Now, it's RM25. For just RM5 more, I can buy fish instead. Chicken is only about RM10 per kg, so I'd rather skip pork altogether,' he told ST. Pork supply in Malaysia was severely disrupted in the aftermath of the death of 300 sows during the ASF outbreak in January 2025, Tanjung Sepat pig farmer Mr Lee said. 'A piglet takes up to two years to grow into a sow for breeding. Now I'm thinking of shutting down my farm, every pig is gone,' said the 60-year-old, who withheld his full name to avoid affecting ongoing transactions, in an interview with ST. The latest outbreak of ASF in Tanjung Sepat has led to a monthly loss of 30,000 market-ready pigs that had to be culled, each weighing around 120kg, estimated Malaysia Pork Sellers Association chairman Chow Poh Yuen. As it is, in recent years, Malaysia's domestic supply has not been keeping pace with local consumption of pork – much of this being due to previous outbreaks of ASF, a main bane of the pig-rearing industry. In 2023, the country produced 1.24 million live pigs with ex-farm market value of RM2.3 billion. It also imported 68,300 metric tonnes of fresh, frozen and chilled pork valued at RM943.82 million. The 2023 imports are four times higher than 2021 's 17,381.9 metric tonnes of pork valued at RM261.38 million. Live pig prices in Malaysia have doubled since January 2022 due to the African Swine Fever outbreak, rising from RM750 to RM1,780 per 100kg by May 2025. ST PHOTO: LU WEI HOONG Malaysia's first outbreak of ASF was detected in wild boar and backyard pigs in Sabah in February 2021, according to a World Organisation for Animal Health alert issued in early March that year. This was followed by subsequent discoveries of ASF in wild boar herds in Perak and Pahang in December 2021, Malaysia's Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) said then. To curb the spread, the first large-scale culling of infected domestic pigs in Peninsular Malaysia took place in Paya Mengkuang , Melaka, in December 2021. But the disease continued to spread, infecting swine in Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Pahang, Johor, and Penang, leading to a significant reduction in live pig production in these states. In response, Malaysia's DVS banned the interstate transportation of pigs to curb the spread of the infection, allowing only chilled pork to be transported between the Malaysian states. Peninsular Malaysia saw a nearly 30 per cent drop in live pig production, from 1.37 million in 2021 to 990,736 in 2024. But Selangor, which was spared the earlier rounds of ASF, had a slight increase in production, rising from 227,840 in 2021 to 254,425 in 2024, according to livestock statistics from the Veterinary Department. However , the severe ASF outbreak in Selangor since January 2025 has led to wider culling of livestock in Tanjung Sepat – which hosts 114, or more than a quarter, of the 401 licensed pig farms in Peninsular Malaysia. A veterinarian in private practice with 46 years of experience in the pig-farming industry, who only wanted to be known as Mr Lim , told ST: 'The ASF mortality rate is high. A sow loses its appetite, develops purplish patches and eventually dies. Postmortem reveals internal bleeding, kidney haemorrhage and an enlarged spleen, growing up to 2 feet from its normal size of 1 foot.' While the disease is not infectious to humans, he said no effective ASF vaccine has been developed for use in swine. Said Mr Chow, 65, the pork sellers association chairman: 'Before the ASF outbreak, abattoirs operated six days a week. Now, it's down to just three. The severe shortage has pushed live pig prices from RM750 to RM1,780 per 100kg.' The current shortfall is being filled by imported pork from Spain, the Netherlands, and Canada, but the lower import prices – about half that of fresh Malaysian pork – could reduce the demand for local pork, he added. Representing 1,500 members, Mr Chow is scheduled to meet with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) on May 20 to discuss expanding the list of approved pork-importing countries and implementing price controls. Acknowledged the rising pork prices, MAFS Minister Mohamad Sabu said the ministry is considering pork sellers' requests to expand import sources to include Thailand, Brazil, and China, going beyond the current suppliers in Europe, Australia, the US, and the UK. 'For a long-term solution to ASF, MAFS urges all industry players to modernise their farms to achieve disease-free status. As this transformation requires significant investment, the ministry is prepared to support stakeholders through the process. A dialogue session will be held in due course,' Datuk Seri Mohamad said in a statement on May 17. For now, the butcher known as Zhu Yok Fatt hopes that the ASF outbreak will be brought under control soon and pork supply will be stabilised in the Klang Valley area. 'If more pigs are bred in Tanjung Sepat, fresh pork prices will come down,' he said. Lu Wei Hoong is Malaysia correspondent at The Straits Times, specialising in transport and politics. 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Straits Times
06-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Malaysian GPs rally against lack of consultation on new drug-price display law, call for fee review
The group of about 400 doctors gathered outside the Prime Minister's Office at 11am on May 6 to submit a memorandum. ST PHOTO: LU WEI HOONG Malaysian GPs rally against lack of consultation on new drug-price display law, call for fee review – Hundreds of Malaysian general practitioners (GPs) gathered in the administrative capital of Putrajaya on May 6 to protest against a new government directive requiring the mandatory display of drug prices that the medical sector says was done without consulting them. The new rule requiring private healthcare facilities and community pharmacies to display price lists for medicines, which came into force on May 1, is parked under a set of anti-profiteering laws. But stakeholders in the medical industry argue that it should fall under the Private Healthcare Facilities Act, emphasising that GPs are a professional service – not part of the retail sector governed by the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act. The group of about 400 doctors also called for a review of GP consultation fees, which have been capped at RM10 (S$3.10) to RM35 for 33 years – citing rising business costs as a major concern. Dressed in black and some with stethoscopes around their necks, they gathered outside the Prime Minister's Office at 11am to submit a memorandum. They held placards with messages such as 'Is it fair for a GP to charge RM35 while a locksmith charges RM200 and a plumber, RM150?' and 'Consultation fees have been frozen for 33 years, but nasi lemak's price has increased by 80 per cent since 2011'. For many of the doctors, the protest was also about according their profession due respect. Malaysia Medical Association president-elect R. Arasu, who was at the site, said the government should not equate private GPs with sundry shops, highlighting the complexity and cost involved in delivering medical services. 'We provide a professional service that includes patient registration, consultation, investigation and prescription,' Datuk Arasu said, adding that doctors 'spend their prime years' studying and training to provide medical services and to open a private clinic. 'The barrier to entry is very high.' 'Anyone can open a sundry shop. You can't compare a professional service to selling goods,' Dr Arasu told reporters after submitting the memorandum. The new price display policy is aimed at promoting price transparency and empowering consumers. But there will be a three-month grace period where no compound fines will be issued, as clinics and doctors adjust to the new law. After which, failure to comply will result in a maximum fine of RM50,000 for individuals and RM100,000 for corporate bodies. Dr Arasu said that private doctors in general are not opposed to the new law that requires the display of drug prices, as it is the patients' right to know. But they do take issue with how the law was enacted, saying it was done without proper consultation from the medical community. It was also put into force before the government made good on its go-ahead to revise GP consultation fees, which have not been reviewed since 1992. At the rally, Dr Hakim Mahdi, 33, told The Straits Times : 'We feel betrayed. The Health Ministry had promised to increase consultation fees first. After years of study, we're charging RM10 to RM35 (for consultation) – while barbers already charge RM25 nowadays .' Regarding the consultation fee review, Dr Arasu said that following a recent meeting, details are still being finalised by the government. In March 2025, the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Associations Malaysia proposed that consultation fees be revised to a range of RM50 to RM150. There have been concern s over the affordability of healthcare in Malaysia amid higher costs of living and soaring health insurance premiums. On Jan 1, one of Malaysia's largest public hospitals serving much of the Klang Valley – University Malaysia Medical Centre – also hiked its fees for its services. Still, the mandatory drug price display law is a welcome move that allows greater transparency, accountability, and consumer empowerment in healthcare, said patients and consumer interest groups. A joint statement by the Consumers' Association of Penang, Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations, Malaysia Rural and Ecology Consumers Association, Teras Pengupayaan Melayu and Kuala Lumpur Consumer Safety Association on May 2 noted that Malaysia's medical inflation rate was reaching 15 per cent, well above regional and global averages. '(Transparent) pricing is a necessary first step towards curbing unjustified price hikes and protect household budgets.' it said. A 44-year-old patient who only wanted to be known as Mr Eng, takes medication for his high cholesterol. He said the price transparency mechanism will help him make more informed choices. 'Now I can compare clinic and pharmacy prices, so I won't be overcharged again,' he said . Lu Wei Hoong is Malaysia correspondent at The Straits Times. He loves to travel and discover hidden gems of stories. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
