Surviving as savvy consumers today

By the eighth day of CNY on Jan 29, the price of seafood was back to normal.

IF YOU are concerned about how much you are spending on food, pay attention to this.

By the eighth day (Jan 29) of Chinese New Year, seafood prices in my neighbourhood market in Pulau Tikus, Penang, went back down.

XL prawns were selling at RM60/kg again, compared to a little over RM100/kg just before CNY.

Chinese pomfret (tau tay in Penang Hokkien, tau tai chong in Cantonese), a must-have for lunar new year dinners, was back to only RM35/kg; the price was around RM90/kg a week before.

This is a classic case of the “invisible hand of the economy”, expounded by Scottish philosopher Adam Smith in his 1776 book “Wealth of Nations”. More on this later.

Seeing prices fall, I did not hold back and bought almost RM300 worth of seafood, enough to last about a month for my wife and I.

I bought a fat golden snapper (jenahak), 1.15kg for RM52 (RM46/kg). Sliced up, this fish is enough to play a role in four meals.

I bought many good-sized three-tooth croakers (sam geh in Hokkien) for just RM14/kg. Although not a “restaurant fish”, they yield delightfully firm, white meat when fried after rubbed in some salt and curry powder.

I also bought Chinese pomfret, stingray and more prawns.

I even found half a kilo of small octopuses for RM20. Penang’s waters have an abundance of these. They look like juveniles but this is actually their adult size.

When in season, we can enjoy this seafood, which is packed with iodine and Omega-3 fatty acids, without burning a hole in our pocket.

I went on this seafood-buying spree because I abstained from buying any during the Chinese New Year season when prices were high.

Now, my problem is that vegetables are at ridiculous prices.

In the first week of February, my local supermarket was selling greenish (raw) tomatoes at RM8.90/kg. No way will I pay that price.

I’m also not buying greens like bitter gourd, sawi and siew pak choy for now. Too pricey.

I am not a bean counter. But I make it a way of life to visit markets and supermarkets regularly and mentally note the prices.

After so many years, I get a “feel” of the prices and refuse to spend when prices do not seem good.

So for now, I content myself with cauliflower, cabbage and a few other greens from China which are now selling for roughly RM6/kg.

Look at it this way: About 30,000 years ago, our ancestors survived by being good at hunting and foraging.

About 10,000 years ago, the chief skills needed were in growing crops and domesticating animals.

Today, we must excel as consumers. If you are not a good consumer, then it does not matter how much you earn because you will always have a deficit or end up paying for low-quality foodstuff.

In socio-economics, people are now seen as consumer units.

By 1945, it became a rule to this day for producers and sellers to measure their prospects by studying population demographics, which brings us back to Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”.

This philosopher promoted the doctrine of free enterprise with such fervour that it is enshrined in modern economics lore.

He argued that in a free market, naturally selfish sellers responding to market forces would eventually bring forth equilibrium.

He was against government intervention in economic matters because he opined that state- imposed ceiling prices, taxes on imported goods and so on would bring about unsustainable economic patterns.

While many economists in history and even today criticise this view, many countries do strive to keep markets as free as possible.

In Malaysia, our government has been trying to keep markets free too, and that is why I have been keeping a close watch on Menu Rahmah which offers RM5 for a meal at eateries as a social marketing movement without government subsidies.

I respect the government’s ability to rope in commercial bodies and create Menu Rahmah options for the B40 group who spend many hours working and may not have time to prepare their own meals.

But I viewed many photos of Menu Rahmah food, and I must express concern about the small portion sizes of the vegetables.

Unless we are labourers, construction workers or athletes, it is a bad idea to stuff ourselves with rice laced with a couple of spoonfuls of greens and a piece of fried chicken.

If you are a knowledge worker sitting in front of a computer all day, vegetables and protein should be the major components of your meals rather than carbohydrates.

Make your own decisions as a consumer in this world today.

Don’t blindly buy food. Assess your nutritional needs and learn how to get food at good prices without losing too much quality. Best of all, cook your own food.

If you succeed in this, then perhaps other facets of you as a consumer will shine too.