GEORGE TOWN: Some sellers of “holiday food attractions’ here are trying their best to keep prices attractive, checks by The Star revealed.Nasi kandar shop owner Syed Ibrahim Mohamed Yacoob said he felt the pinch with the price increases of food items in the past two months. He had no choice but to charge more, but he is doing his best to keep price hikes low to avoid the wrath of his patrons.

       “Before this, a piece of chicken was only RM4 to RM5, but now we have to sell it at RM7,” he said.

       Syed Ibrahim, 54, said where a chicken used to be chopped into eight pieces, his team now cuts each bird into four pieces.

       So, while the price per piece is higher, he hopes customers will find delight in the larger serving size.

       “All food sellers are increasing prices. We have no choice. So I made our serving sizes better,” he said yesterday.

       He hopes the government will step in and stop prices of food from ballooning out of control.

       Toast bread and half-boiled eggs hawker Ahmad Ansari Abdul Jabbar, 57, does not dare raise his prices.

       “A set of roti bakar with half-boiled eggs costs RM5. The prices of bread and eggs have increased but I still maintain the price,” he said.

       He said it was still RM1.20 for roti canai at his eatery.

       “Everything is so expensive now. But I would rather earn less than see customers run away,” he added.

       Coffee shop operator Goh Chin Guan, 60, said he had been delaying price increases.

       “Many of our customers are from lower income groups,” he said.

       Goh said his Milo ais price was still being sold at RM2.50 although many other shops had set the price at RM3 or more.

       “We need the government to do something about the prices of basic items like sugar and flour,” he said.