Should a porridge soup cooker cost the same as a brunch for two people? Should a hotel room per night cost as much as or more than some people’s monthly grocery bill or salary? Naturally, I am not comparing like for like. But, it made me wonder what I was willing to pay for the different goods and services offered in the market. And, how I decided what gave me the most value for money.

I bought a soup cooker for RM70 from an online retailer, almost RM30 cheaper than from an offline shop in KLCC. It was a fantastic deal with a one-year warranty. And, it was delivered to my doorstep.  The same week I had brunch with a friend in Petaling Jaya. The restaurant served savoury and sweet crepes. We had salmon and mushrooms crepes plus coffee and tea for about RM70. The food was excellent. Top marks for service.

The costs of my soup cooker and one brunch were almost the same. Again, I concede it’s not a like for like comparison. Somehow, it didn’t seem quite right to me.  I will be able to make porridge and soup for a long time or at least until my warranty runs out while the brunch, excellent as it was, lasted less than two hours.    

Kitchen appliances seem to generally cost less now than they did a few decades ago. Thanks to technology, economy of scale, cheaper labour and cost-effective manufacturing locations.  Not unexpectedly, the top of the range robust kitchen equipment with the latest gadgets are still expensive. Established brands can and do command thousands of ringgit for their products.   

I remember when kitchen appliances like rice cookers, fridges, kettles and toasters were not widely available or easily affordable. When I was little, my mum cooked rice in a pot over a charcoal stove. When the rice was done, she flipped the pot to drain any remaining water. My mum probably got her first electric rice cooker in the 1970s. Very likely bought on hire purchase as the cost would have eaten a chunk of my dad’s salary. We also had a charcoal box iron to press clothes, long before we had the much lighter and sleeker electric iron.

I also remember walking with my mum every morning from Jalan Seberang Perak in Alor Setar to the wet market with a RM1 marketing allowance. In the 1960s, that money was enough to buy a kati of fish, usually mackerel or ikan temenung for 10 sen. That is, before we went metric with kilogram. A hand full, also a measurement in those days, of prawns for 10 sen. A hand full of vegetables like beansprouts or even tofu at five sen each. A gantang or 3.6 kg of rice was 60 sen. We had freshly cooked meals, every day.  No leftovers. There was no fridge to store the balance. What was wonderful about the trips to the wet market was my darling mum set aside 15 sen for me so that I could buy noodles (mee goreng), fruit and ice-cream or cendol – all at five cents each. So in fact, our daily marketing budget for a family of nine was only 85 sen. This is true.

Fast forward to today. A kg of white rice cost RM3.82[1] while a 2kg Jasmine Gold Pusa Basmati rice cost RM24.49. Mackerel anywhere between RM15 to RM17 per kg. Beansprouts cost RM2 for 500gm and two pieces of tofu about RM2. Prices of meat, fish and vegetables vary, depending on the country of origin, whether they are organic and which supermarket they are purchased at in Kuala Lumpur.  It was reported that inflation in Malaysia stood at 3.87% in 2017 compared with 0.97% in 1966[2]. 

Back to my brunch. The ingredients that went into the crepes and drinks included salmon, mushrooms, seasoning, eggs, milk, coffee and tea.  I don’t know if they were organic. I am not sure if the price was a premium for ambiance, service and branding. What I do know is RM60-RM85 is the average price for a meal for two in a medium-range cafe in Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya. It is very likely that RM70 would have bought me more meals some years ago. Maybe not salmon or mushrooms but locally caught and grown produce. But, I probably wouldn’t have been able to buy a soup cooker as it wasnt available then, and not at that price. So, how?

For me, globalization, increasing population, growing demand, dynamic technology, climate change, scarcity of natural resources, branding, and social media have and are shaping the value of things, and values in life.