For personal reference.
Petrol price is hiking up 78 cents to RM2.70 per litre by Wednesday midnight, while the diesel is going up RM1 to RM2.58. Seems like it’s worth being kiasu after all.
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.
Petrol stations located in border states will be barred from selling petrol and diesel to foreign-registered cars starting Friday (May 30). [Thestar]
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.
With the price of crude oil rising above 100 dollars a barrel, it’s inevitable that our petrol price is going up pretty soon.
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.
Condolences to families of the deceased in the bus crash near Bukit Gantang on August 13.
It’s reported that the deceased driver had 13 summonses and 2 arrest warrants in his name for various traffic offences. It’s easy to blame on the driver for the accident, but fact is multiple parties should be held responsible for the crash… the bus company, PUSPAKOM, JPJ, police, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Human Resources etc.
Horrific bus accidents tend to happen in Malaysia every one or two years. Each time it happened, the government will jump out promising all countermeasures to prevent it from happening again… but it is still happening again and again and again. All those countermeasures were only empty talks, nothing much was actually done.
Don’t count on any improvements after this… chances are most people will forget about the accident a few days later; the government leaders will be among these peeps.