The recent episode of Malaysia banning fresh chicken to Singapore is looking like a misfire, a bad joke. Malaysia did not have an explosion of population but found itself short of fresh chicken all because of some hike in the price of chicken feed, I supposed. And it was like panic station, not enough fresh chicken for domestic consumption, price hike, and to the point of banning export to Singapore. Really stylo milo, sorry Singapore, we don't have enough, can't sell to you. It was like giving notice to Singapore that it was at the mercy of Malaysia, like water, not happy, turn off the tap or in this case, cut off export of chicken. Next time may stop export of durians, fruits, vegetables to Singapore. Abang besar.
The lesson on using water supply as a trump card to squeeze Singapore leading to Singapore outwitting Malaysia by finding alternative sources of water did not sink in. Singapore wang besar. Got money can buy from anywhere. There are so many willing suppliers. Now Indonesia would be most eager to fill in the void. After negotiation and quality checks on Indonesian chicken farms, the deal was inked. Indonesia would be supplying up to 1,000 tonnes of chicken meat to Singapore till the end of the year. 50 tonnes has arrived. How many chickens is that? If the supply chain and quality are up to mark, this could become a permanent feature, regular supplier, and with possibility of more tonnages and fresh chicken as well.
What this means is that whatever the Indonesians are supplying, it would be deducted from the amount coming in from Malaysia. Malaysian farmers would now have spare chickens to sell, not to Singapore. Either they find new buyers or would have to produce less chickens. In other words, if they could not sell the 1,000 tonnes, which would be carried forward into the future, the revenue would go down accordingly. No need to produce so many chickens anymore, no need to expand the chicken farms.
Abang besar syndrome may end up not too attractive to the poor farmers trying to grow their pie and productivity in the chicken farms. Wang besar is still the king. Have money, no fear of no supply of anything. Indonesia would end up the happy partner with a willing buyer come knocking at the door, and could increase production in their chicken farms without having to go hunting for buyers, no need to sweat the small stuff. This is like money falling down from the sky.
What is the moral of the story? Jangan yaya papaya. Suka, suka sell or don't sell. This is like Australia not wanting to sell wine, lobsters or seafood to China. China buy from other sources, including iron ore and coal. Live lobsters become dead lobsters. Iron ore and coal become dirt from the ground when there is no buyer.