Once dubbed as an “economic” option for Malaysians, chap fan, or more commonly known as economy rice, has long been a staple meal thanks to its affordable prices and range of dishes.
However, it has slowly begun to lose its “economic value” appeal due to rising labour and ingredients costs, leading many to lament that it can no longer be called “economy rice”.
Different eras, different vibes
One chap fan vendor decided to address the issue, where he expressed his thoughts in a long, impassioned Facebook post.
He began the post by saying that the thing that annoyed him the most was reading one-star reviews being written by disgruntled customers over how “expensive” their meal was.
“I really want to ask one question: What year are you living in right now? Back then, chap fan was sold at the corner of a kopitiam located within a wet market stall.
“During that time, rent was ridiculously cheap and there were only one to two staff working. The “economy rice” you’re talking about belongs to that era,” he explained.
The vendor said that today, chap fan is sold at premises that have air-conditioning and comfortable environment where customers have tons of dishes to choose from.
“All of these doesn’t take into account rising food costs, rent, utilities, staff, and food wastage.
“What makes you think selling chap fan for more than RM10 means I’m printing money?” he questioned.
The vendor also slammed the same group who whine about pricey chap fan for not batting an eye when it comes to paying more when they dine at shopping malls.
‘No one owes you anything’
Towards the end of the post, the vendor had one last thing to say:
“I’m not running a charity and I have a family to support too. You have your pressures, while I got bills to pay.
If the chap fan’s too expensive for you, don’t eat. Eat if you want, don’t eat if you don’t want to. I don’t owe you anything and no one’s holding you at knifepoint and forcing you to eat.”
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