MALAYSIA is a known fruit paradise. The tropical climate creates a wide and remarkable diversity of edible and succulent fruit. We are blessed with a climate in which perennial heat and abundant rainfall permit a wide variety of delicious fruit to flourish.
Some of our fruits include durian, known as the king of fruits, mangosteen, cempedak, duku-langsat, pomelo and snakefruit, papaya, ciku, guava, soursop, mango, jackfruit, starfruit... the list can go on.
Some Malaysian fruits are seasonal while others are easily available throughout the year. Seasonal fruits such as durian, mangosteen, rambutan, mangoes, langsat, and pomelo, are generally available between June and August and between November and February.
The non-seasonal fruits are papaya, guava, jackfruit, banana, just to name a few.
My complain is, I find local fruits to be more expensive than imported fruits. The price of guava has gone up from about RM4 per kilo to about RM6, the price of mangoes from RM6 to RM8 and the price of bananas from RM5 to RM7 in the last few years.
When we complain, the traders too complain that they have to raise prices because there is a drop in supply in the last six months. When I ask how we could reverse the situation, the answer is they hope the government would cut down on the export of local fruits to keep prices down.
The government should stop exporting so much, so we will have enough for domestic consumption. When supply is more then demand, I am sure prices will come down.
LIONEL PERERA, Kuala Lumpur.