Category: Financial Literacy EN

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) submitted our recommendations for the 2023 Budget to the Treasury last week. Among the topics covered were governance, healthcare, housing, food security, inclusive development, environmental issues, disaster risk management and proposal for tax measures. On the matter of governance, CAP proposed that the anti-corruption agency be adequately funded...

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) calls on the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs to enforce the Price Control Act 1946 Amendment 1973, Section 8 (1) which requires traders to display price tags on goods that are meant for sale. Our repeated survey around Penang Island showed that many traders especially food stalls and restaurants are blatantly flouting the Price Control...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) is shocked by the announcement that Touch ‘n Go is collaborating with CIMB Bank Bhd in producing a personal loan product available through Touch ‘Go eWallet, regardless of the interest rate. The introduction of easy personal loans promotes debt dependency culture to Malaysians who desire to spend what they do not have. With easy availability of loans,...

We welcome the action taken by the government to stabilise the price of goods as was decided during the National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL) meeting on 31st January 2022. CAP was present during the mentioned meeting that was chaired by the Prime Minister, and we were given the opportunity to put forth our opinions during the meeting. We welcome the government’s decision to set...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) welcomes the assurance given by the Prime Minister that the government will not interfere with the investigations by enforcement agencies into the secret accounts in tax havens operated by Malaysians, as revealed in the Pandora Papers. We also reiterate our call made eight months ago that the government set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to...

The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) urged the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) and the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) to take immediate action  in reducing the prices of vegetables and fruits,  as  study has shown that their prices had increased drastically over the last two weeks. The price of chicken increased from RM 9 to RM10 per kilogram...

"The free market is 'socialism' for the rich: the public pays the costs and the rich get the benefit - markets for the poor and plenty of state protection for the rich. Concentration of wealth leads naturally to concentration of power, which in turn translates to legislation favoring the interests of the rich and powerful and thereby increasing even further concentration of power and wealth."...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) is shocked that the government has used its emergency powers to tap into the National Trust Fund (KWAN) for vaccine expenses on 21 April 2021. A new subsection was added to KWAN Act which permits the use of KWAN funds for “the procurement of vaccines and any expenditure incurred in relation to the vaccines for an epidemic of any infectious disease as...

It was reported in the media that i-Sinar withdrawals from the Employees’ Provident Fund’s (EPF) accounts have a “positive immediate impact on the real economy as it supported domestic consumptions”. The economy should be stimulated through investments in areas that have been neglected, e.g. agriculture, healthcare, elderly care, and not through using EPF savings in wasteful consumption....