SYNOPSIS

Malaysia is more food secure compared to the past, where all major foods are now available in sufficient quantities to meet the demands of the market. Food access is no longer an issue for most Malaysians, due to better storage systems and distribution arrangements. However, food affordability has still proven to be a significant problem for many. Certain food items, such as beef and milk, have experienced apparent price anomalies. Furthermore, most major food imports have been subject to government regulations which have resulted in oligopolies/oligopsonies and related price setting. Income inequality and related spending patterns has also meant that higher prices have had a more adverse impact on poorer households. Thus, now seems to be a pertinent time to ask what do we mean exactly when we talk about food security for all, and how do we go about achieving it?


SPEAKER BIODATA

Tan Zhai Gen was a Research Associate at the Khazanah Research Institute (KRI). His research interests include food-related issues, including food security and nutrition, while also keenly interested in technological changes, economic development and the relationship between them.

Prior to joining the Institute, Zhai Gen graduated from the University of Oxford with a Masters in Biochemistry in year 2016 after graduating from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College in GCSE A-Level for a year 2012. He was previously an intern at the Institute and also at PEMANDU under the Prime Minister’s Department.

Zhai Gen also representing the authors of the “Addressing Malnutrition in Malaysia” co-written with Prof. Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundram and Prof. Wan Manan Wan Muda. For the year 2019, his article on “Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians” (co-written with Prof. Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundram) was published at KRI.

He also wrote several other articles including Sugar: A Spoonful Too Much? (2019), The Absolute vs Relative Poverty Conundrum, (2019), What Explains the Increase of Labour Income Share in Malaysia?, Catastrophic Antibiotic Threat from Food (2017) etc.