June 2, 2009 
 

WELLINGTON - NEW Zealand and Malaysia have agreed a free trade agreement, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said on Tuesday.

Mr Groser said negotiations for the deal had been finalised after negotiations in Kuala Lumpur.

Darshini Kandasamy
Thursday, May 28th, 2009 15:14:00

THE Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry is no longer relying on consumers to help its monitoring officers to check prices of goods to update its daily price watch.

The decision was made as the ministry felt this would help prevent errors in price documentation as there would no longer be any confusion in differentiating items.

Pauline Almeida
Monday, May 25th, 2009 07:20:00

THE rice supply chain is broken and it's hurting the lower-income homes.

Because there is a severe shortage of Super Special Tempatan 15 per cent broken rice (SST15).

The grade, the cheapest when available, has almost completely disappeared from the shelves of many sundry shops and even hypermarkets.

Monday, May 25th, 2009 06:29:00

IN the 1980s, a decision was made to control the price of SST15 rice, or broken rice to the common people, to ensure that the poor would be able to afford the staple food.

The decision makers, however, left it to demand to influence supply of this type of rice and did not set a minimum production quota, even though it was initially estimated that SST15 rice made up roughly 10 per cent of the total rice sold locally.

Pauline Almeida
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 07:33:00

THE broken rice shortage crisis deepens. There are claims by some private millers that they had been told to supply just enough of the subsidised ST15 grade to last till March.
A Malay Mail probe revealed that the Agriculture and Agrobased Industry Ministry had met millers from all over the country last year to inform them that they need to only supply the subsidised grade for six months from September last year to March, 2009.