Netizens slam J-Kom over cost of groceries infographic

 

There had been many social media postings complaining about the high cost of living.

PETALING JAYA: Netizens have slammed the community communications department (J-Kom) for claiming that a household of four can survive on RM391 worth of groceries a month.

In an infographic, J-Kom listed six items that a family of four with a minimum household income of RM1,500 could buy.

They include two chickens for RM37.60; two 10kg bags of rice (RM38/bag), two bottles of cooking oil for RM13.80, a carton of 30 eggs for RM14, two jumbo loaves of bread for RM8.60 and a cylinder of gas for RM19 per month.

It also claimed a single-person household would only spend RM228 a month on these items but in a smaller quantity.

The infographic by the community communications department.

J-Kom has since drawn brickbats from netizens, who questioned the formula used and said the infographic was “illogical”.

Facebook user Hajar Helmi said: “Which planet is this calculation from?”

“Who made this poster? Other items like onions, garlic, chillis, vegetables, sugar, fruits, etc. don’t exist in their kitchen,” Asiah Abd Jalil said.

Other users laughed and welcomed the “entertaining” post by the department.

J-Kom’s infographic comes after a Kosmo report claimed that it costs at least RM500 a month for a household of four to buy groceries these days, up from RM200 previously.

However, the latter figure was apparently derived from a single source and the report was later taken down.

Subsequently, a host of social media postings complaining about the high cost of living and comments based on the report began to appear.

Communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil then tasked the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to investigate these posts, saying they violated rules due to their similarity to each other. - FMT