After nearly two years of the mystery surrounding the disappearance of local white rice (BPT) from supermarkets, the government has finally announced that the commodity will be sold with subsidies at RM26 per 10-kilogram (kg) pack.
However, the subsidy is limited to 400,000 low-income families, with each household head allowed to purchase two packs per transaction, as announced by the Director-General of Paddy and Rice Regulatory Division, Badrul Hisham Mohd.
The BPT packs will be available at 36,000 licensed retailers, mainly in urban poor areas.
Various parties have weighed in on this disappearance, pointing fingers at rice millers allegedly mixing BPT with imported rice and selling it in imported rice packaging to maximize profits.
The central figure in this issue is none other than the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM), Mohamad Sabu.
Let’s revisit the timeline of this issue:
▶️ September 2023 – Mohamad admitted that there was no evidence of relabeling local white rice as imported rice during the White Rice Operation conducted nationwide.
▶️ September 2023 – He stated that the ministry would implement intervention measures before BPT supplies stabilize within a month.
▶️ December 2023 – Mohamad claimed that the BPT shortage was gradually easing.
▶️ February 2024 – Chairman of the Special Committee on Food Prices and Cost of Living under the National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, announced Beras Madani, a single category of white rice replacing both local and imported categories.
▶️ November 2024 – Mohamad assured that BPT supply would remain sufficient, even during weather changes that could disrupt the staple food supply.
▶️ November 2024 – Mohamad revealed that a special committee was being formed to find solutions to the BPT supply shortage.
▶️ December 2024 – KPKM was instructed to review control mechanisms for mixing local and imported white rice, including price simulations, following recommendations from the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC).
▶️ January 2025 – KPKM announced the introduction of regulations prohibiting the mixing of local white rice with imported white rice, although they still claimed there was no evidence of such practices.
It’s clear that the government has been flip-flopping on the local rice issue. Despite numerous proposals, BPT remains scarce on supermarket shelves. As of November 2024, BPT supply stood at only 56%.
According to Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, Fuziah Salleh, she had "personally seen" a report by MyCC regarding rice cartels but could not disclose its details. The report was announced in November 2024 and was expected to be presented early this year.
However, the latest statement by the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, Armizan, seems to dismiss the existence of these cartels.
He stated that the study found no elements violating current competition laws. Armizan also said the report would not be tabled in Parliament.
After all the noise about rice cartels, the people are once again left disappointed by yet another futile effort.
It seems that all the reports, committees, investigations, and intervention measures—funded by ministries with multimillion-ringgit budgets—have failed to bring BPT back onto supermarket shelves for the people to buy.
NOTE: This article was first published in Malay by The Peninsular
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