Families must brace for pricier Chinese New Year reunion dinners both in banquet restaurants and at home, due to a rise in the cost of ingredients and other operational costs.
PETALING JAYA: Reunion dinners on the eve of Chinese New Year next week are set to be a costlier affair for families eating out, with several Chinese banquet restaurants raising the prices of their packages this year.
Vincent Yap, the operations manager of Hee Lai Ton Restaurant’s SS13 branch, said the establishment’s packages have increased by about RM100 compared to last year.
“This is to account for the overall rise in the cost of ingredients as well as operational costs, which have increased,” he told FMT.
Yap also said the restaurant has seen fewer orders this year, especially from big companies planning their annual Chinese New Year get-togethers.
Wong Teu Hoon, president of the Pan Malaysia Koo Soo Restaurants and Chefs Association, said its member outlets had raised their reunion meal package prices by about 3% on average this year.
However, these prices will be fixed throughout the festive season even in the face of any further increase in costs, since the packages have already been on sale for several months now to allow for advance bookings.
According to the Penang Hindu Association, the prices of essential goods have surged by up to 400% ahead of Chinese New Year and Thaipusam.
The domestic trade and cost of living ministry said it would conduct daily inspections to monitor prices and ensure they remain under control.
Meanwhile, Maple Palace Restaurant in Penang has sought to buck the recent trend of fewer bookings by offering slightly cheaper meal packages.
Its manager, Alex Teoh, said they have reduced their package prices by about 13% in the hope of attracting more customers.
“Our lowest-priced package this year is RM1,988, a RM300 decrease from last year,” he said.
Sze Han, a 35-year-old technician who booked a reunion dinner package for his family last month, said the increased prices were still within an affordable range.
“The package that we booked this year was priced at RM988. Although slightly more expensive than last year, it’s only once a year that we have this (reunion), so it’s fine.”
Meanwhile, Ng, a 38-year-old accountant, said she intends to honour a longstanding family tradition of reuniting over a home-cooked meal in her hometown of Seremban.
While that is bound to cost more this year, it would still be cheaper than eating out, she said.
“Everything is more expensive now. It is something we have to live with. I am grateful that we have our reunion dinner at home. Of course, the preparation involves work, but we can save by not eating out at banquet restaurants.”
Last month, agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu said vegetable prices had gone up due to the unpredictable weather. He said these prices were expected to stabilise by March.
Vegetable prices have steadied
A vegetable seller, who asked to be identified only as Lim, told FMT that vegetable prices have steadied compared to last month.
“This is because the supply of vegetables, which was affected by the heavy flooding earlier in December, has been replenished.
“For example, yin choy (red spinach) and ong choy (water spinach) take about 25 days to harvest. Choy sum takes about 30 days,” said the 45-year-old when met at a market in Kuala Lumpur.
Another vegetable trader, who wanted to be known as Yee, said the prices will remain steady if good conditions hold firm but may rise again in the lead-up to the new year in the event bad weather leads to floods and damages crops.
“It may not rain here (Kuala Lumpur) but it might rain in the other states. We have suppliers in Cameron Highlands, so when it rains heavily there, the prices will definitely increase due to a shortage in supply,” said the 33-year-old.
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