Friday, June 06, 2008

Price Hike! How? Change Lifestyle Lah!!


Oil is one of the most important natural resources...but yet it is human who manipulate it, causing so much troubles, making it expensive. Who's fault is that? The picture above shows destruction due to fire enraging a petroleum refinery centre...probably an answer of why fuel is in shortage and price hike.

On wednesday, the beloved Golf that you people have elected three months earlier with a simple majority had decided that it's enough. If you want to use fuel to run your car, you need to pay more! Petrol price up 41% while diesel experience about 63% hike in surcharge nationwide beginning June 5. First of all, just like the one that Acura post, I wish to say thank you for doing us this kind of favour by increasing the fuel price, scrapping off the subsidy; eventually making Malaysia's oil price one of those that no longer the cheapest. But the issue is not about scrapping subsidies that matter because in the end of the day the victim is ourselves. Who would agree the current oil price are still the cheapest?
The Venezuelan people are damn lucky since there are an oil producer, a member of OPEC, a pact of nations that produces oil. Therefore their oil price are at 5 cents - yes, US$0.05 for each litre, translated to around RM0.16 only. Their population and economic figures and performances are pretty much the same with us, yet petrol price in Malaysia is now at US$0.84. Because of that, on Wednesday night, all the petrol kiosk around the country was attacked by people who ruthlessly, desperately and hypped by the fact that they only have time until midnight, rushing to the nearest kiosk possibly can just in need to fill their tank full. Result; jam here and there. Well, it is not something new, been a Malaysian who likes to do something in last minutes and loves to be in hype. Pump it in at the very last minute, very good. Make use of it. Wow!! Great idea. Havoc havoc whole Malaysia. I wonder if anyone seen PM's car been filled somewhere?

The mad rush before midnight...Petrol kiosks been attacked
The issue here is simple but may not be as easy as you think either. Once the oil price increase, no one can stop other things from increasing too. Who can? You think the government can decides. Even if they decides so, there are plenty people especially the manufacturers or suppliers will rather put a red face, pledging for reconsideration. You probably read those craps from the newspaper saying that the consumer association expressing their hopes and prayers that the items and goods' price will not increase. Yeah right, everyone hope so but these things are inevitable. Come on, let's face the truth. The price of many consumer products have been going up even since before the oil price crisis occur over the past couple of years.
Let me give you an example;
A bowl of mee soup with beef rib which I like so much, daily made fresh from this particular restaurant. It costs RM 2.50 in 1999. Then it up to RM 3 three years later, RM 4 in 2005 and now RM 5.50.
If you calculate back, the price of this item have been up by 120% over 9 years period, giving an average of 12% per annum. I'm no economist but there is something called inflation. Just like you inflate your car's tyres, they become bigger and more pressurized. So does the value of money and the value of an item. Everyday it increase!! Since when you see item's price ever goes down. Well, except for Mega Sales it is!! Still, a gimmick in politic and economy.
Only a full day after the new price was announced, many people gave mixed reactions about it. Some considered it's time to let the Malaysian well-known for being pampered and spoilt-brat by the government thru various subsidies should learnt to change their lifestyles.
Wow!! "Change My A** Lifestyles"



Let me get this to the point. I don't drive and I don't own a car. How damn lucky am I for not owning a car, people say! I don't have to worry about refueling my car every week. I don't have to worry about my car been hit by someones' or hitting someones'!! Err...wrong!! I still need to worry about walking under the sun or get myself wet soaked in rain, don't I?
Okay, maybe walking is healthy and it reduce our dependence to vehicles. So why not everyone walks to school, to work or to the parliament? It doesn't consume oil, at least it consumes food. Yeah right! Obviously walking may not be a good choice for those members of the parliament from the Golf as they love to sit in a comfortable and expensive cars, probably get through an AP, avoiding tax or levy. That's why they hired a driver with a nice sedan, just for the superior comfort. BMW, Mercedes, RR, whatever. wtf. If you can ask us to do so, why not you people do the same thing. Walk or take your super efficient RapidKL bus, LRT or whatever stuff you called them a public transport. Don't blame me if you are late for your work or for your parliamentary session telecast live. If they are let to walk instead of been drove to the parliament, imagine what will happen to these YBs.
"Oh My god, I'm gonna late for my live telecast of the parliament. Hmmm...I wonder how I look now? Err...driver. Do I look okay kah? Aiya...i forgot the scripts. What should I say later? Lol. Drive me to the parliament lah. My car got air-cond, I can think and remember better." wtf!!
Times goes back as you wish. Imagine going more retro we will end up in Flinstone era!!

Okay, here is another solution. Why not introduce trishaw back!! I considered the idea might useful if things are not evitable anymore. Duh, it is not that I'm moron to come with this idea but you know it is better and cheaper than those drivers owning a taxi or having a train coach or LRT run by electricity which is produced by fuel. Err... wait!! Did I say a trishaw? Wow, I think this is a good idea, especially for tourism. Wow!! Some more creating the "feel" of the golden age. Trishaw is cheap, no need to use so much fuel if installed to a motorcycles. Put it on a bicycle even better. Wow!! Brilliant idea. If no money to put on bicycle also got another idea, make it run by a human, resembling Flinstone!! Diesel fueled trishaw is a source of pollution, dude!! Yeah lah, why not!! Diesel burns like in hell and release more carbon for you. Come on, people. Why do you need to donate more carbon into the air? We are not plants, we don't take CO2 to live. We don't need it. But trishaw is good for reminding me that Malaysia is a low third class nations. Brilliant!!
So, oil is up!! What are things that will up next!!

  • Prices of fragrant rice will reduced by 15% and glutinous rice 12% due to availabilty to import rice much cheaper than expected from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Wait, so coincident with the Chang Festival, the celebration of glutinous rice!! Hmmm!!

  • Sugar may go up 20 cents next year.

  • Assurance that public transports and school bus will not hike. Yeah right, I can assure you of that!! Konsortium Transnasional Berhad claimed a loss of 3.5 million ringgit each month due to extra fuel surcharge!!

  • Car sales will go down beginning.....now.... The non-national cars may hit harder but doesn't mean the national cars will do better. As of 30th April, about 181,053 new cars emerged on the road but the forecast of the year 2008 may only see 500,000 total industry volume (TIV) or new cars.

  • Ok, for a consequences of raising the fuel price, his website (PM's) was hacked by some people who rather deface him and replaced it with a skull. The hacker seems to have failed in his attempt to hack successfully but instead he left some souvenir.
Well, I think I should rest my case now!! It's too long and too much to talk about. See ya!!

4 comments:

Johnny Ong said...

linked yr name in my blog too

Anonymous said...

well...apart frm that, i did hear on the news last nite that sum "sea-accident" caused oli spillage too...
DAMN...we definitely dont need that amount of oil lost now..apart frm further polluting the oceans...huh..

acura said...

Tunku Abdul Rahman - Bapa Kemerdekaan
Tun Abdul Razak - Bapa Pembangunan
Tun Hussein Onn - Bapa Perpaduan
Tun Dr Mahathir - Bapa Wawasan
Pak Lah - Bapa Inflasi?

Bernard Chung said...

To Johnny: Wow, thanks anyway, Dr.!!

To Pris: Serious? No wonder the fuel price go up again last night. US$ 136 now. If it goes up to US$ 150, die la. Fuel price go up again.

To Acura: Hahaha, a good one!!

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