MANY Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians are familiar with the cult favourite vegetable ‘petai’, often known as stinky beans.
This humble ingredient is inexpensive and delectable for many people in South East Asia, but what happens when inflation keeps eating away at everyone’s purchasing power?
In a recent TikTok video, a woman by the name of @ladyrara017 was recording her usual grocery run at Village Grocer, Avenue K.
While shopping, she had come across a pack of peeled smelly beans with a ridiculously high price tag of RM 113.90. Did I misread something? Is petai now so pricey? She questioned incredulously, “Inflation?”.
Despite the fact that she had stated that it was Grade 1 and that these were “imported petai” from Malaysia or Thailand...Like me, many others struggled to think of an acceptable justification for the item’s high price.
Since then, the video has received over 400k views, and many internet users have left amusing comments such as, “I’m going to start growing petai trees in my backyard.” as well as “Petai for T20 only”.
Now let’s be real, why would something that is grown best using natural resources get so expensive by the time it hits shelves in grocery stores?
Ever bought expensive petai?
