Ensure the needy don't end up paying the price

I recently purchased a few boxes of Paseo tissue paper, and was very satisfied with my purchase, especially since, at the time of purchase, it was the cheapest non-house brand of tissue paper available at the FairPrice store in my neighbourhood.

I am concerned about the sudden store withdrawal of Paseo, as well as other FairPrice house brands of sanitary paper products produced by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) ("Supermarkets pull plug on haze-linked firm's products"; yesterday).

This could lead to low-income households having to pay extra for these daily basic necessities.

I can understand the need for prohibitions over the sale of paper products that are clearly made from forests that have been destroyed by fire, contributing to the haze.

However, the withdrawal of products made by APP seems like a knee-jerk reaction.

To prohibit the current inventory of products from being sold seems unjustifiable, as there is no clear evidence yet of the complicity of the company in contributing to the haze.

I hope the current inventory of APP products will not be destroyed, as it would be environmentally unfriendly and wasteful to do so.

Instead, supermarket chains should consider donating them to low-income families.

Chan Yeow Chuan

This article was first published on Oct 9, 2015.
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