GEORGE TOWN: With just a couple of days left before the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) scheme expires, shoppers are finding out that the RM100 credit can in fact be spent on a far broader range of groceries and household essentials.
Retiree Quah Kim Hong, 72, was among those who rushed to use up the credit and her trolley included sunflower cooking oil, British imported baked beans, Japanese-style teriyaki sauce and a bag of basmati rice, along with other household necessities.
In total, she spent about RM180, topping up RM80 from her own pocket.
“I kept my RM100 allocation throughout the year and decided it was better to spend it before it expired,” she said, adding that completing everything in one trip yesterday was a relief.
“Some of these items may be considered premium products, but we use them prudently,” said Quah, who lives with her 75-year-old husband.
Her husband receives additional monthly aid due to his age.
Engineer Ahmad Zulkifli, 34, said he was initially sceptical about how flexible the RM100 Sara credit would be, but was impressed with the range of products covered under the scheme.
“When I used the MyKasih app to scan barcodes, we found that we could buy locally distributed cooking oil but not imported olive oil.
“Locally produced butter was allowed, but not imported European butter.
“I was quite impressed by how thorough the product database is, which makes sense as the idea is to support local products,” he said.
He eventually used his RM100 to buy toothpaste, fortified milk powder, rice bran cooking oil and anti-bacterial laundry detergent.
“At first, we did not bother to use the credit because we thought it was only meant for rice, flour, sugar, canned food and other basic items.
“With RM200 between my wife and me, we were able to buy quite a number of useful household items,” he added.
Prominent supermarkets have opened up dedicated counters to manage purchases using the Sara credit.
Some stores have also listed over 90,000 eligible items across various categories, clearly tagged with MyKasih Sara labels for easy selection.
