Retailers report smooth flow, better shopping experience
PETALING JAYA: When the RM100 Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) aid was first offered last Aug 31, there was mayhem.
The system crashed, thousands had to fork out their own money to pay for the items while hundreds of filled shopping trolleys were abandoned at supermarket counters.
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Yesterday, Sara 2.0 was launched. And it was as smooth as silk.
The system has been upgraded, retailers were better prepared, buyers were more aware of how it all works and, more importantly, it was a weekday unlike the long weekend last August.
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“People are a bit more aware and not rushing to buy things like the last time,” said Mydin managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin Mohamed.
Although there was a slight increase in crowd yesterday, the usual monthly MyKasih recipients had already done their shopping early in the month, and did not need to shop yesterday.
“We noticed some extra 20 to 25% of customers spending the RM100 Sara aid.
“It is very orderly, the system is working well and there are no long queues because people are more aware.
“At the end of the month, or during the weekends, there will be more people using the aid for their household purchases.
‘When the children and husband are home, a household can have a cumulative amount of RM400 to RM500, so we expect more people over the weekend, including those shopping for the Chinese New Year,” he said.
Ameer also said MyKasih had informed retailers earlier that frozen food could be included, so the retailer had ordered sufficient supply.
99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd chief operating officer Yong Eng Kwang said traffic at their stores remained manageable with no congestion.
“The public is more familiar now with the Sara assistance mechanism and understands they can use the aid gradually until December. As demand is spread over time and as it is a working day today, the situation is manageable,” he said.
Yong said their supplies of frozen food were also sufficient following the early announcement about their inclusion on the list.
To ensure smoother crowd management, he said 99 Speed Mart had extended its operating hours yesterday by 30 minutes, closing at 10.30pm.
In a statement yesterday, the Finance Ministry said it had taken into account people’s feedback and agreed to expand the Sara product category to include frozen food.
“This addition brings the total to 15 basic product categories. The number of products eligible to be purchased using Sara credit is now 140,000,” it said.
With an allocation of RM2.2bil, more than 22 million adult Malaysian MyKad holders can benefit from the RM100 Sara aid, which is valid for use until Dec 31.
The Communications Ministry has announced that the MyKasih Foundation has upgraded its system, including bandwidth capacity, to ensure the Sara programme runs smoothly.
The public can check their credit status via https://sara.gov.my.
