The Malaysian Insight

THE death toll from a recent methanol poisoning incident reached 40 last week, leading the authorities to ask why cheap liquor and the stores selling them continue to mushroom despite the danger posed to consumers’ health.

The answer is simple – without demand, there will be no supply.

Within a fortnight, 40 men died in the Klang Valley from consuming alcohol tainted with methanol, and the number is expected to rise.

Director-general of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said as of last Thursday, 24 of the deaths were recorded in Selangor, with another 11 in Kuala Lumpur.

Among the dead, 25 are foreign labourers – Myanmar (11), Nepal (10), Bangladesh (2) and India (2).

Cheap booze is a popular after-work indulgence for many foreign workers in the country, thanks to the affordability, easy accessibility and high alcohol content.

According to The Malaysian Insight’s observation of a housing area in Segambut and the area around the Selayang wholesale market, there were at least seven stores selling cheap liquor.

At one shop near the Selayang wholesale market, which does not have any sign, 40 customers walked through its doors in a single day, each spending about RM10 on average on alcohol.

Asked if business was affected by the fatal poisonings, the elderly shop owner, who did not want to be named, said “Not at all”.

“Honestly speaking, we’re not worried about the foreign labourers (not buying), they are more worried about us not selling.”

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), police and Customs Department have been conducting frequent inspections since the poisoning, but all liquor sold at the shop is legal, he said.

“The brands that are poisonous are imported from Myanmar, I do not sell them here. I only sell local brands.

“Foreign labourers who want to drink liquor from their home have to figure out where they can get them, because I don’t sell them,” the owner said.

Police have so far identified three brands – Mandalay Whiskey, Grand Royal Whisky and Kingfisher beer – as the source of poisoning.

Grand Royal, a brand from Myanmar, said it has stopped exporting its liquor to Malaysia since 2017 and bottles bearing the company’s logo seized by police are likely counterfeit.

Big profit margin

The shop owner did not want to speculate on the source of the tainted liquor, but said there are at least five or six other cheap liquor stores nearby that sell both legal and illegal liquor, possibly looking to disrupt the cheap liquor market.

“Those selling illegal liquor can sell at even cheaper prices.

“I sell more than 40 brands, from small 170ml bottles, medium 350 bottles to big 700ml bottles. The best selling ones are the small bottles as they are only around RM10, but with an alcohol content of up to 40%.

“They’re cheap enough that even foreign labourers can afford it.”

He said customers in the area were mostly foreign labourers, and they looked forward to enjoying a cheap drink after a long days’ work.

“The customers in this area are mainly foreign labourers, Indians, Nepalese, Myanmar… from all over. They usually come and buy drinks after work, then get drunk for a good night’s sleep.”

A well-built worker from India, who was buying liquor from the shop during the interview, said he was not concerned about the poisoning cases.

“What’s there to be afraid of? I still drink every day, but I only buy from trusted shops.”

The man said he would buy a small bottle every day, which meant spending about RM70 per week on liquor.

Another young labourer from Myanmar said he was only buying liquor for his uncle at the shop.

“My uncle drinks a small bottle of lychee liquor every day. Each bottle only costs RM6.50. I haven’t really heard about the counterfeit liquor, but I think people (foreign labourers) here are still drinking without problems,” he said.

But while some shops continue to make good money, some have been affected by the poisonings.

In Taman Sri Sinar in Segambut, an ethnic Indian shopkeeper said many foreign labourers stopped buying alcohol from him since the poisoning cases started, and business has dropped by about half.

“I have never heard of people dying after drinking Grand Royal Whisky, we only sell locally made liquor. But the reality is people are still scared, they don’t want to buy here any more,” she said.

Deputy Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said the methanol content found in the tainted alcohol was between 30 and 50 times higher than the permissible amount.

Means of buying cheap liquor

According a traditional Chinese medicine shop in Taman Sri Sinar, cheap liquor shops in the area have developed methods to evade authorities.

After the shops officially close around 6pm, a car would arrive filled with cheap liquor from unknown sources, and those with “experience” know about these “special working hours”, he said.

“I have spoken to industry insiders before, cheap liquor is a very profitable business. You’ll get between 40% and 60% profit,” said the shop owner.

Raising the tax for alcohol would not control the sales of these cheap liquor brands, but would instead increase demand for them.

“It is only because there’s a high demand that there are so many of such shops. The higher the tax imposed on these alcoholic products, the more people will look for home-brewed alcohol and shops that sell illegal liquor.”

Contacted by The Malaysian Insight, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said the number of cheap liquor stores and the spate of alcohol poisoning do not have any co-relation.

“The source of the counterfeit alcohol is not from the legal shops who abide to their licence conditions, (but) it’s from unlicensed sellers who made the alcohol themselves, that’s the problem,” said Khalid.

“You can even say that if there are no legal cheap liquor stores at all, then the issue of counterfeit alcohol will be even more severe,” he said. – October 2, 2018.