Outcry at shortage of flour

The Government has told Malaysians not to eat food made with flour to prevent a shortage of the commodity from becoming more acute.

But the advice, from a spokesman for the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, has angered Malaysians, who consume large quantities of flour-based noodles, speciality breads and dumplings, as well as shopkeepers and hawkers supplying them.

In Penang, one of the areas where the shortage is most severe, traders said the public might soon find it hard to find such popular foods as mee goreng, roti canai, yau char kwai and dim sum.

Consumer groups called on the Government to act to end the shortage, which they attributed to hoarding.