Friday January 6, 2006

Not enough coconuts for Thaipusam

PENANG: Hindus wishing to break coconuts in conjunction with Thaipusam on Feb 11 may not be able to do it so lavishly this time around. It is learnt that the coconut harvest last month was poor due to the rainy season. Coconut wholesaler M. Joel Jeyachandran said the coconut supply from a plantation in Bagan Datoh, Perak, would be insufficient to meet demand during Thaipusam. “Now I only have about 5,000 coconuts at my shop and they are not enough to meet orders,” he said, adding that he sold about 100,000 coconuts during Thaipusam last year. He said the supply of coconuts had shrunk about 50% due to the high demand for the back-to-back Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Deepavali celebrations in November. Due to the poor harvest, some coconut traders in Penang had increased the price to RM1.40 a fruit, from 80 sen a few days ago. However, Joel Jeyachandran is still selling the coconuts at 70 sen each for fear of driving away his regular customers. “I have no intention to increase the price, which has remained for the past four years, due to competition among wholesalers, especially those in Seberang Prai,” he said. However for this Thaipusam, Joel Jeyachandran is planning to increase the price by 10 sen. “It still depends on the supply from the plantation,” he said. A. Anbarasan, 51, a wholesaler at Lorong Abu Siti here, said he estimated sales at about 20,000 coconuts for this Thaipusam, against 40,000 last year.