MP moots distributing shopping vouchers instead of food baskets

Subang MP Wong Chen has mooted distributing shopping vouchers for the needy to buy daily necessities themselves, rather than to provide them with food packs under the federal government’s Food Basket Assistance programme.

He said this would be cheaper to implement and allows aid recipients to choose what they need, while avoiding the logistical challenges of having MPs and their teams procure, store, pack, and distribute 3,000 food packs in each constituency.

Wong shared that his office has been distributing RM200 cash vouchers by post for the needy to buy goods at Giant and 99 Speedmart, and the handling cost is only RM10 per recipient.

In contrast, he estimated...