Malaysians in Britain stocking up food supplies
LONDON: With a possible no-deal Brexit looming on the horizon, some Malaysians in Britain are making preparations to stock up food supplies.
Accountant Sia Hee Ching, 26, expects an artificial food shortage caused by panicked shoppers come March 29 when Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union (EU).
“I expect a shortage in food due to mob mentality as everyone will be panicking over the uncertainty and do what everyone else is doing.
“Probably the sight of an empty shelf at Sainsbury’s would strike fear and push us to stock up even though nothing’s really for sure,” she said.
At present, 40% of foodstuff in Britain is imported from the EU. Supplies are expected to be disrupted if Britain leaves EU without a deal.
Sky News reported on Tuesday that one in 10 shoppers in Britain had begun to stockpile foodstuff ahead of Brexit.
Sia said she already stocked up on dry goods and canned food with long expiration dates.
“I don’t want to end up wasting food when it turns out that nothing is really going to happen and the food goes bad,” she said.
Sia, who regularly sends money back to Malaysia, admitted that she was more concerned about the exchange rates come Brexit.
“I am just monitoring the pound-ringgit exchange rates so that I can take advantage of the foreign exchange differences and send money back home before the dip in case of a no-deal Brexit,” she said.
Evelyn Baskaradas, who is studying for a master’s degree in Data Science at the University of Sheffield, expects a mild food short- age and will only be buying “marginally more” grocery supplies.
“My stocking up will be dependent on Brexit reports closer to the deadline. Even so, I’d probably be more concerned about general medicine over food stock,” she said.
However, others like undergraduate Teh Wen Xin, 21, believed that the British government would have made sufficient preparations to ensure that a supply shortage would not happen.
“I think I will be able to survive pretty well on what is available,” said Teh who is pursuing a degree in Economics and Economic History at the London School of Economics.
The Guardian reported in December that British Cabinet ministers have agreed on a no-deal Brexit contingency plan which includes ferry space for food supplies and some 3,500 armed forces personnel to deal with any disruption.
On another matter, airports in Britain are expected to be clogged up once it leaves the EU as visitors from the Schengen area will now have to undergo passport checks.
The Telegraph reported that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, airports will require staff and resources to deal with an additional 201 hours of checks, on average, every single day.
Sia expects congestions in both British and EU airports but they will not affect her travel plans.
“Immigration is crowded anyway, so nothing new,” she said.
Evelyn said she was unfazed about travel even though she will be travelling to Geneva for a conference in April.
“The university is taking care of the arrangements so I suppose they would have had Brexit in mind,” she said.
Teh believes that special accommodations will be made for EU visitors in the wake of Brexit and congestions will not be as bad as imagined.
In June 2016, 52% of Britons voted to leave the EU in a historic referendum.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Theresa May promised British lawmakers a vote on her revised Brexit deal with the EU before March 12.
MPs have voted by 432 votes to 202 to reject her earlier deal in January – the largest defeat for a sitting government in the country’s history.
May has also promised a vote on a no-deal Brexit by March 14.
I don’t want to end up wasting food when it turns out nothing is really going to happen and the food goes bad.
Sia Hee Ching