PETALING JAYA: With the clock ticking towards the Dec 31 deadline, many Malaysians still have yet to redeem their RM100 Sara credit.
Among them is Jon Doyou, a partnerships manager who pledged to use his Sara credit soon.
The 35-year-old said he has not used any of his RM100 credit despite making many visits to the grocery store.
Doyou said he appreciates the assistance provided by the government as it goes a long way to helping the underprivileged.
“My girlfriend and I live together, which makes a RM200 grocery bill completely covered by the government,” he added.
Office worker Chan Wai Meng, 37, said he had almost forgotten about the special government initiative.
He lamented the lack of variety in goods offered by the participating stores and suggested that the scheme be expanded to other stores to enable easier access.
Nevertheless, Chan said he still plans on using his Sara credit before the closing date.
An 18-year-old student, who only wanted to be known as NKC, said her parents have been using their own Sara credit for household essentials.
“So, I have not had the chance to use mine. Also, my parents usually run these errands without me following along,” she added.
Another university student, who only wanted to be known as Vivian, lives overseas most of the time and confessed to not knowing about the Sara assistance programme.
She said she has not checked the government website for details, nor has she downloaded the MyKasih app for information.
The Star reported on Wednesday that since Sara’s launch in 2023, the government has consistently expanded its reach, from 210,000 people at launch to 5.4 million this year.
The Finance Ministry said this included the scale of allocations, breadth of eligible stock-keeping units and the network of participating merchants.
It said the number of registered retailers has grown from 424 outlets in 2023 to over 8,000 as of Dec 7 to include standalone sundry shops and mini markets.
