Cost of living ranking does not show real picture

Shoppers browsing in the store at H&Ms pre-opening party at The Spring shopping mall in Kuching. - ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / The Star

LAST week, the Prime Minister’s statement that Malaysia’s cost of living is the lowest in Asean raised more than a few eyebrows. Asean includes Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, so is it too good to be true?

The PM relied on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2017 global survey on the cost of living worldwide, a biannual survey which compared the prices of goods and services in 153 cities around the world.