KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been urged to focus on developing a fair market for both sellers and consumers to ensure healthy economic development.
Malaysian Inclusive Development and Advancement Institute of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia director Prof Tan Sri Noor Azlan Ghazali said the government should "break free from the addiction to cheap prices" and move towards fair prices for all goods and services, including wages and salaries.
"It's not the prices that need to be addressed but the wages and salaries. Ideally, prices should be fair, benefitting both the buyer and the seller.
"We must get used to living in an environment with changing prices, provided those changes are fair," he said on his Facebook today.
Noor Azlan said for the international community, the cost of living in Malaysia ranked 115th, among the lowest in Asean.
Generally, he added, the prices for products and services for daily life are cheap in Malaysia.
"So, what is actually happening? Why do people feel otherwise?," he asked.
Noor Azlan warned that policies suppressing prices to be lower than fair prices could damage the country's economy, inevitably causing some parties to suffer.
He called for the government to ensure price changes are fair and not manipulative, advocating for a shift towards fair pricing in all aspects of the economy.
"Policies that suppress prices to be lower than fair prices will damage the country's economy. Some parties will inevitably suffer and be affected. Prices should be allowed to change as long as the changes are fair, not manipulative.
"Break free from the addiction to cheap prices. Move towards fair prices. All prices, including wages and Salaries," he added.