Minister of State for Home Affairs, and Sustainability and the Environment, Desmond Tan, said in a Facebook post that there is enough supply of chicken for everyone in Singapore.
He urged people not to hoard and buy responsibly, explaining that surge buying will empty shelves in the short term as the supply chain will require time to catch up.
He assuaged fears of shortages, saying that Singapore still has supplies of the remaining 70% of frozen chicken from other countries (the impacted 30% of chicken supplies comes from Malaysia).
Here is what he said
[Chicken Supply in SG]
One third of our chicken imports are from Malaysia, and almost all are live chickens which are slaughtered and chilled in Singapore.
With Malaysia’s suspension of chicken exports, we should expect some disruptions in the supply of fresh and chilled chicken.
However, be assured that our supply of the other 70% of frozen chicken from other countries has not been impacted.
I visited NTUC FairPrice’s Fresh Food Distribution Centre earlier today, and observed consignments of frozen chicken arriving as per usual, and well-stocked shelves filled with frozen chicken and alternatives.
While the Government continues to closely monitor the situation and work with stakeholders to ensure adequate supply, we can also play our part by only buying what we need.
I encourage everyone to be open to other options such as frozen chicken, processed chicken like canned chicken and chicken nuggets, and other protein types.
There is adequate supply for everyone, so let us buy responsibly and do not hoard. Surge buying will result in empty shelves in the short term as the supply chain will take time to catch up.
I am confident we will be resilient and adaptable to such disruptions and get through them together.
images source: Desmond Tan 陈国明 on Facebook