From complaining there isn't enough bread, to wasting bread unnecessarily. When will Malaysians learn?

A picture of unopened packages of Gardenia bread found on a dumpster made its round across social media and sparked outrage among netizens.

Twitter user Zambri Mohd Isa posted the pictures on Twitter last Tuesday (31 March) before it was picked up by a community page on Facebook for residents of Banting, Selangor called @Mybanting.

sikap tamak akhirnya membazir dan menyebabkan org lain tdk dpt merasa pic.twitter.com/cxV8mQrIZN

— Zambri Mohd Isa (@zambrisa) March 31, 2020

In a time where people are frantically searching for bread at the supermarkets as its low in stock due to panic buying, both users expressed their disgust at how some people can easily throw away food, especially during a time of crisis.

Zambri noted that some people’s greed had turned into an act of wasting, impacting those who are more in need of the items.

While a Facebook user from Mybanting also had a thing or two to say:

“During the MCO, so many can’t find bread in the stores and here you have someone who bought it and decided to throw it away?”

Everyone, please don't waste food, ok? There are a lot of people who don't have enough to eat” wrote the page admin.

The pictures went viral across social media with netizens expressing their disappointment and anger towards such a wasteful act.

This is why you shouldn't panic buy: Msians waste 3k tonnes of edible food every day. 1/3 of food produced across the world gets wasted. It could've gone to the hungry, instead of a landfill.

Remember this the next time we talk about world hunger, poverty & overpopulation. https://t.co/wIGn0PB5x0

— batcat #StayHome (@aidathecat) April 1, 2020

Tarikh luput roti seminggu je. Beli banyak² buat ape..

— jaazudin (@jaagrafik) March 31, 2020

Guy roti kalau dah tak habis.. Korang potong dalam saiz 1 inci lebar... Pastu bakar.... Jadi roti kering... Breakfast cicah kopi panas.. Sayang weh buang... Lepas bakar, tabur gula... Tunggu sejuk.. Simpan..

— NS (@nsbku11) March 31, 2020

What’s more upsetting is that some users also shared their encounters with unopened food items such as bread and rice packages being thrown away unnecessarily.

Photo: Facebook Gavin Siew

Sedih tengok roti2 ni, sepatutnya orang lain boleh dapat hak dorang. Membazir betul. pic.twitter.com/vLLVAhjt0m

— ハキミ (@sootiredlah) April 1, 2020

It’s a no brainer that people wasting food can spark such outrage, especially during the MCO, when bread is not easily attainable for most of us.

That said, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has reassured the public that there is enough bread to go around after visiting the country's leading bakery, Gardenia Bakeries Sdn. Bhd (Gardenia), The Italian Baker Sdn. Bhd. (Massimo) and the Mighty Bakery Sdn. Bhd. (Mighty White) for inspection.

The ministry posted on its official Twitter page last week, that the results from its inspection showed that the production capacity of these three factories was near the maximum and could meet the needs of all citizens.

Hasil semakan mendapati kapasiti pengeluaran ketiga-tiga kilang ini adalah hampir ke tahap maksimum serta dapat memenuhi keperluan semua rakyat.

Rakyat Malaysia adalah diseru untuk membeli secara berhemah supaya #semuadapatroti @AzminAli @limbanhong @lokmanhakim_ali pic.twitter.com/bPZb2ItNBq

— MITI Malaysia (@MITIMalaysia) March 28, 2020

Despite the fact that there is enough bread for everyone, let’s not waste food unnecessarily and be mindful of others who are much more in need.

By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya