GEORGE TOWN: The livelihoods of the newspaper vendors in the state are in limbo following the drop in the sale of newspapers, which has declined by up to 70 per cent.
Penang Newspaper Vendors’ and Book Sellers’ Association (Penba) president M. Murugesu said they are only earning slim profits from the sale of newspapers.
“Our relationship with the news agency companies goes way back 40 to 50 years ago. It was good back then.
“However, now they are slowly shifting to online media and also e-papers (electronic papers). How about us here?
“This problem has been going on for a few years and our future looks bleak,” he said yesterday.
He said this to reporters during Penba's 47th-anniversary dinner here.
Also present were Pengkalan assemblyman Kota Daniel Gooi Zi Sen and Malaysia Nanban managing director Datuk Shafee Zaman Sikandar Batcha.
Murugesu said newspaper vendors deserve incentives from the news agencies which earn profit from the sale of e-papers.
He said that a 30 per cent commission was a suitable amount.
“We are the ones who created the market for them, we are the ones who found the customers for them.
“So, when they move the direction towards e-paper, we believe we deserve something out of it. A 30 per cent commission should be good enough,” he added.
He also called for the government to assist the vendors in the country to negotiate on their behalf for a win-win situation.
“Companies take measures to cut cost and we are the ones impacted and gained nothing out of it,” said Murugesu.