For the past few weeks, the news of Malaysia banning chicken exports has thrown Singapore into disarray. As a country highly dependent on exports, many seemed to think we had cause for concern.
Fortunately, Malaysia may have a solution to the issue much sooner than we think. They have assured citizens they would increase local chicken supplies in time for Hari Raya Haji next month.
Source: Google Maps
They also hope to quickly resolve the export ban to fix the situation in Singapore as well.
Malaysian English daily The Star reports that Malaysia expects to resolve their chicken shortage within the next month in time for Hari Raya Haji.
The Department of Veterinary Services director-general Dr Norlizan Mohd Noor made this announcement on Saturday (4 Jun).
He said that inter-agency engagement sessions were held with industry players to unearth the issues currently affecting supplies. As such, Malaysian citizens can expect an increase in supplies within the following weeks.
Dr Norlizan also assured reporters that local authorities are committed to increasing production, adding,
We are in the recovery process.
The supplies of chickens had reduced due to several factors, such as:
Source: oliveplum on Flickr
The use of open cages also played a part in the shortage as well. Dr Norlizan stated that almost 80% of local chicken breeders use open poultry houses, thus exposing the population to odour and fly pollution.
Only a few of them use enclosed chicken coop systems installed with up-to-date technology.
In May, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the ban on chicken exports out of Malaysia. The reasons were concerns about rising chicken prices resulting from decreasing supplies.
Since then, the situation has been slowly improving within the country, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reports. Malaysia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry Secretary-General Haslina Abdul Hamid stressed that the shortage was temporary.
“The government is doing its best to ensure no shortage of chicken,” she said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin visited Singapore on Thursday (2 Jun).
He said his country values their ties with Singapore and that he hopes to resolve the chicken export ban quickly. During his visit, he also raised the issue of climate change affecting chicken supplies.
A third of Singapore’s imports of chicken come from Malaysia. Following the announcement, imports from other countries increased to fix an oncoming shortage of local supplies.
This announcement should be a huge reassurance to Singaporeans, many of whom were fraught with worry over a potential shortage.
All we need to do now is stay calm and wait for updates as the Malaysian government works to address the issue.
In the meantime, do refrain from panic buying chickens. As our local markets have pointed out, supplies in Singapore are not likely to run out anytime soon.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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