Tawau, Monday, 26 May 2025:
The federal government’s MyKasih aid programme, while aimed at helping low-income groups ease their living costs, has unintentionally increased the operational pressure on Sabah’s local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially retailers, due to restrictions on product categories and merchant qualifications.
Under the programme, except for eggs, fresh agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, and meat cannot be purchased using the subsidy. Each eligible household is entitiled for RM50 to RM200 per month allowance, and the programme will continue until the end of this year. Its impact is wide-ranging and long-term.
More critically, only large retail chains are equipped with the systems required to support the MyKad cashless credit system. The vast majority of local SMEs are unable to participate.
This has directly caused small retailers to lose customers and suffer sharp drops in sales. Many grocery shops are unable to sell even basic goods like rice, cooking oil, and milk for an entire month, leading to severe inventory backlogs.
Despite this, the Sabah Minister of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship (MIDE) has yet to respond or propose any solution, and has instead been making frequent official overseas visits. This has triggered concern and dissatisfaction within the industry.
While the MyKasih programme has indeed benefitted vulnerable groups, its implementation has also eroded the market share of local SMEs and disrupted the existing supply chain ecosystem.
“This kind of arrangement livens up already-thriving hypermarkets, while marginalising small retailers.”
MIDE must urgently face this issue and coordinate with the relevant federal agencies to ensure SMEs are not excluded from aid policies. At the same time, supporting measures must be put in place to ease market imbalance, maintain the diversity and resilience of the local economic ecosystem, and prevent local SMEs from being completely eliminated or disappearing in this wave.
Alex Soon
Supreme Councillor
Tawau Sri Tanjong CLC Chairman,
Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP)
0135402288