'Retailers, manufacturers cannot cater to sudden demand for black shoes'

Retailers and manufacturers may not be able to meet the demand by the year-end following the black shoe policy announced by Education Minister Maszlee Malik.

Malaysian Retailers Association (MRA) President James Loke said it was their concern as it took about a year at least for the manufactures to plan production ahead, for the next year.

"Hereby we are appealing to the ministry to have a cohesive approach to make an engagement with stakeholders for further discussion.

"MRA is also looking forward to working closely with most of the relevant ministries by providing views and recommendations on retail policies through interactive sessions, engagements and consultations," he said in a press conference at the MRA office here, today.

Also present were Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd managing director Ameer Ali Mydin and Sogo Group chief operating officer Raymond Teo.

Meanwhile, Ameer Ali who is also MRA council member said the new black shoe ruling was not a ‘good idea’, taking into account on supply and demand, also discipline factors of the students.

“We always support the government in whichever position it takes, but I want to mention that the minister (Maszlee) needs to have more consultation with the stakeholders, Parents and Teachers Association (PIBG), retailers and manufacturers.

“The most relevant is what the stakeholders think and once we all agree, then the minister needs to come out with a clear statement, a written one to the industry so that we all know what to do next, we do not know whether it is an official statement or not. We might start ordering black shoes tomorrow, that’s our concern,” he said.

Ameer Ali said the industry would also bear massive costs as next year's orders for white shoes were already made.

“What will we do to the stuck stocks, to whom and where will we sell it? We believe many white shoes are already made, or at various stages of production. The government will lose the taxes if the industry is losing,” he said.

Last Thursday, Maszlee, who is also Simpang Renggam MP, announced that students nationwide would be required to wear black school shoes starting from next year's school session, taking into account requests from parents to the Education Ministry since he became the minister.

On Saturday, Maszlee was reported stating that a one year grace period would be given to all quarters before the ruling of black school shoes is implementable in all government schools.

-- Bernama