There is no point protesting against the petrol hike… the fuel subsidy was wrong and should have been gone long ago. It there is anything to complain about… it’s about corruption, poor public transportation and the government failure in improving our living standard for the past decade.

Inflation is something inevitable; what really strike Malaysians these days is the failure to improve our earning-capability since the 1997 economic crisis. With exceptions of a few professions, the salary and income levels of most jobs are not on par with inflation rate for the past decade… some sectors are actually falling behind the pre-1997 era.

Singaporeans are paying a despatch boy RM2500 a month while most fresh graduates won’t be getting that much in Malaysia. Off course there are arguments that the cost of living would be higher in Singapore, but their definite advantage is that their overall standard of living would not be affected as much by global effects because of their higher earning power.

The effect of globalisation has become more apparent these days; inflations and cost of living is not something that we can control alone unless the country is self-sufficient in everything. The logical option to keeping our living sustainable is to increase our production level, and thus the income level of general citizens… and it’s something that the government has to think and work on.

We need to have a plan, a solid idea of what we want our country to be in the next 5, 10 or 20 years. One of the reasons why I am not against removing the petrol subsidy is that the money could be better spent (set aside the corruption issue first) on other development instead of protection policies. It’s better to teach people to fish than to give them fishes.

What the lower income group should fight for are policies that could increase their income level and a fair distribution of wealth. It’s unthinkable that some working classes are earning less than RM500 a month; that’s an exploitation to our labour forces. It’s a fair thing that skillful workers or educated peope should earn more than those who are not… but surely the hardwork itself could be rewarded better.

Malaysia need to rebrand ourselves; we are branded as a cheap and resourceful place for foreign investors in late 80s and the 90s, but with the rising of China, India and Vietnam etc… we are not having the advantage we used to have. Malaysia need to learn to stop relying heavily on FDI and create our own branding… we need to optimise our profit levels and minimise wastage, and the government needs to lead by example and Malaysians should work hard on improving ourselves.

Finally, instead of blaming solely on the government for the hardship these days, some Malaysians need to reflect on ourselves too… some of us have been too complacent with ourselves for the past decade or two; some of us have been taking too many things for granted; some of us have been living inside caves for failing to realise what’s going around; some of us have been mere fools to think that government has to be responsible to spoon feed them forever.

The measurements include a 10% reduction on entertainment allowance and restrictions on paid vacation for ministers and deputy ministers, which would be limited to the Asean region only and the duration should not exceed one week. Previously, the paid vacation is borne by the government to any destination once a year.

It’s a step forward for the government to cut wasteful spending, kudos for that… but they could really try a bit harder. 10% cut on the entertainment allowances mean nothing much; the ministers (and deputies) will still get a decent allowance to spend on I-don’t-know-what entertainment purposes.

Besides, why should we pay for their overseas vacation when we can’t afford to bring our family for overseas holidays? It’s not like the ministers are not getting paid… their monthly salary is higher than 70% (probably close to 90) of the Malaysians for goodness sake.

The paid vacation should be scrapped completely; and unless there is a good reason for the entertainment allowance, it should be scrapped as well. There are probably some other dubious expenses not mentioned in the plan… and there are definitely rooms for further improvements.

If the government has the determination to cut the petrol subsidy and forced the people to change our lifestyle, at least show their own determination to make a strong cut. It’s a good start, but not good enough.

Would you choose to save billions of dollars from the subsidy to improve infrastructures (schools, hospitals, public transports etc.) or to continously using it to make Malaysians happy?

Ask me anytime, and I will tell you that we should abolish the subsidy system completely… probably not in one shot, but definitely in near future. The money could be better spent elsewhere than to pamper Malaysians with cheap petrol.

The problem with our government is always on how they would spend those extra moneys… the wastage and corruption have given them some bad reputation in recent years; and it’s understandable that lots of Malaysians no longer have faith with them.

But let’s say Anwar has took over the government, and let’s assume he is an absolutely clean and capable politician… do you think he should abolish the subsidy and use the money to build something else, or to reduce the petrol price instead?

So, same question to Anwar too, who constantly promised to reduce the petrol price. Does he believe that it’s the right thing to do to reduce the petrol price, or is it just a gimmick to gain popularity so that he can become the Prime Minister? Would he not prefer to use those money to build the future instead?

Politicians are never clean… an absolute honest man can never be a politician.

The hawker: Cash strapped, TV, handphone

I have a friend that always complained on how tough life is, and how difficult it is to make ends meet. He is a hawker, his wife the helper, and has three kids.

Some hawkers are rich, but he is not… I am not really sure why. A couple of years ago, his eldest son finished Form Five, came out to work, got his first pay… and the first thing they did was spending most (if not all) of the salary to buy a new TV.

My friend is still crying on how tough life is… but he got a new company now, with his dear son complaining just about the same thing.

Last I checked, the son use a handphone that is five times more expensive than mine.

Good girl buys Prada

I have a friend, who saved on everything she could, so that she could spend on the latest (and expensive) fashion merchandises… Prada, Gucci, LV, whatever.

She often eats instant noodles for dinner, always complaining money not enough, and probably has three credit cards which she’s indebted with. A sweet and lovely girl though.

The student: PTPTN, laptop, iPod

A distant cousin, second year in college now. Complaining that PTPTN loan not enough, hating his parents for giving him little pocket money.

Have a laptop, an iPod, and never bothered to find a part time job while crying out that he doesn’t have enough money to party with his friends at night.

The smokers

A mamak chat with a few friends after a fuel price hike last year. They smoked a lot, and complained about the price hike. Asked if they would consider quitting (or reducing) smoking… all said no, one said… “tak rokok tak macam jantan lah.”

I wonder if they would have second thoughts after the recent petrol hike. I don’t smoke btw.

The rich and famous

A beautiful friend, cursing the government for the fuel hike… she drives an Audi, and her body smells like Whisky, probably because of some late night drinking.

I told her… “so, drink a bit little lor.” She answered… “#$!@%$, why do I have to change my lifestyle because of the stupid gaman? Pak Lah is $@%! @$% #%! @$%!$@%”

My concern

An ex-colleague, work in a factory, basic pay less than RM1000 (probably a few extra hundreds with OT). Only 26 or 27 of age, has four kids. His wife not working, has to take care of the kids.

He rides a motorbike. I saw him hiding a few packed chocolates in his pocket during a company dinner years ago, wanted to bring back to his kids. A humble guy, probably a good father.

Life is about options

Some people don’t have much options, but for lots of the Malaysians… life is a matter of preferences, and the choices are in your own hands.

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Comment is closed here, please share your thoughts at the previous post instead.

With the continous record breaking rise of crude oil price, our price hike seems inevitable. It’s a logical decision for the government to cut the subsidy… the only question that always puzzle me is how they are going to spend the extra money saved from the reduced subsidy.

So far I haven’t heard anything to improve our public transportation system, or to find alternative ways to reduce petrol consumptions in the country… nobody really knows where the money saved from the previous price hike had been used.

The government is supposed to announce some measurements along with the price hike today… will have to read the papers later tonight to see what is happening.

On the other hand, 78 cents hike should be a shocker for most Malaysians… it’s by far the biggest margin we have ever had. The extra fuel cost doesn’t concern me much; what worries me is if the government could control the side effect of the fuel hike… as other products and services would be calling for price hike as well.

Update – shoot, electricity rates going up as well, 18% for homes and 26% for business users from July onwards. This increment could cause more damage than the fuel hike actually; we can try to save on fuel… but we don’t have much option with electricity.

The government also announced a new rebate system for vehicles of different classes as well as a reduction on road tax [details at Bernama and Thestar] which actually opens more rooms for debates of unfairness…

Since that I am working from home, I need to drive less often… but hey, I am getting the same rebate for my car like other car owners. Also, I have a motorbike at home that I rarely used, but heck… I am going to get RM150 rebate regardless; how odd is that?

The rebate is probably aimed to curb the foreign vehicles issue, but the government could be overlooking it by creating more confusions and controversies domestically.

[Official media statement from the PMO about the subsidy restructuring]

Update June 11 – The government has announced that the prices of petrol and diesel will not be raised any more in 2008 even if the global oil price reaches US$200 a barrel. [Bernama]

The phenomenon showed two things…

1. Some Malaysians are kiasu
2. Some Malaysians believe in rumours rather easily

Are you one of those kiasu Malaysians that love to believe in rumours?

Update – The rumours turn out to be true this time… fuel price going up 40%.

Update – the plan has been postphoned. The northern border will start the ban on June 2 while southern border on June 9.

Update June 5 – the ban has been lifted following the new petrol scheme.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad said the move is aimed at plugging loopholes in the current subsidy system; but the move is temporary until the ministry could come up with better management of the subsidy system.

The ban will involve between 200 and 300 petrol stations, and extends up to 50 kilometres from the borders in Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, Perak and Johor. Currently, petrol stations are not allowed to sell more then 20 litres of petrol to foreign vehicles.

A Singaporean friend was telling me that Malaysia is coming out with this rule to revenge the lost of Batu Puteh. It was just a joke, but it makes me wonder if there are any Singaporeans who actually thought about that and took it seriously.

The decision is set to raise some controversies. While it might help curbing the issue directly, it would lead to other matters like tourism and foreign relations. It’s easy to count the amount of subsidy saved from the new rule, but the intangible losses might be larger than what we would gain.

Actually, the logical way to coup with the issue is to reduce our petrol subsidy and increase our fuel price. The subsidies money could be better spent to improve our infrastructures and public transports, which in long term is the only way to reduce the mass consumption of petrol in our country.

The problem is whether the extra money saved from reducing the subsidy would be well spent and not wasted… we have seen too much mismanagement of public funds over the years that we have generally lost faith with our government obviously.

The snowball effect on other consumer goods will also be a concern, but it could be controlled with proper monitoring and management.

Reducing the subsidy is the only way to go… Malaysians have been pampered all these years; it’s time to have some reality check. Besides, the rich people are the ones that benefited most from the fuel subsidies anyway… it is not helping as much for the poor.

Malaysia is not facing bankruptcy danger even if we keep the price level… what Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak claimed prior to the New Year Day was obviously to demean the opposition parties instead of solid economic facts. Najib said that the opposition’s promises to reduce oil prices if it were to form a government will only bankrupt the country, because it’s not possible…

It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the government controlled Petronas would be making extra money following the rising oil price as well… the government is probably not losing too much with the subsidies compared to a few years ago (if there is any loses at all).

Khairy Jamaluddin was right though when he said on Umno’s General Assembly in Nov 2007 that the petrol subsidy could be better spent on other developments. My point of view is still the same… that it would be a wise move to cut the petrol subsidy ONLY IF the money are spent at the right place (education, health care etc.) and not going to dubious projects like Angkasawan or buying a new submarine… or perhaps the worst – to waste and corruption.

Considering that Malaysia won’t be having much petroleum resources left (probably finished in a decade or two without new findings)… our government need to be proactive in finding new energy resources (bio-diesel, solar power etc.) and reducing petroleum consumption. We need a better public transport system to start with; it’s a pain to travel in Malaysia without a car.

At the meantime, we the common citizens just have to be prepared for the next price hike.

“Why should we give subsidised petrol to the already rich, who drive luxurious cars with high capacity engines? It should be meant only for the man riding a kapcai (low-cc motorcycle).”

He added that billions of ringgit could be saved and the money used instead to develop village roads, build more public infrastructure and construct schools.

His statement is half true. Malaysians have been pampered with all kind of subsidies all these years… perhaps it’s time to let the petrol price roamed freely and save the money for other benefits, to help the poor for example.

I would applaud if the billions Ringgit saved could be used to develop our villages… but I am afraid that we might use it for something else… paying for a crook bridge (that was never built), spending on new toys or sending a traveller to space. Who can guarantee that the money saved from the cut subsidy would be well spent?

In my words…

“Why should we spent money to send a man to space, who rides on a billion dollar spaceship with super capacity engines? It should be meant only for the men riding on wheels.”