Fuel Hike... Warning! Maybe, Maybe Not...

The date is 4th of June 2008, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato Seri Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi made a rather shocking but expected announcement. The announcement came to us Malaysians as a "dooms day" kind of announcement. The price of petrol will be increased by 40% by midnight tonight. Not surprisingly, the first thing we Malaysians do is to hit for the nearest petrol station, hoping to get a final bite on the cheap price of petrol that will last for maybe the next one week. Wow... Such an achievement for those who manage to get their hands on these 'cheap' petrol. Needless to say, they are definitely very proud and will say things like:

"Wah, luckily I managed to get. If not tomorrow sure mati."
"Waliau wei. Government crazy ar? Pak Lah no brains ar? Lose election then do like this la?"

Ok guys, reality check. The government ain't crazy, cos YOU are, Pak Lah has got brains, and... Yeap, YOU do not have and its not really because he lost the elections. Lets face it, the elections has got nothing to do with the increase of petrol price. Most importantly, the government is not crazy because its not the government that caused a nationwide jam just because most of us Malaysians are just selfish, kiasu and refuse to accept the reality of life. Imagine everyone packing at the petrol station causing unneccesary jams, with no good reason at all. Yes, the price of petrol is gonna go up, so what? Its not like we can buy these 2 bucks per litre petrol and use them for the rest of our lives right? Come on, saving these 12++ bucks now does not mean a single thing if the price of petrol is gonna continue increasing in years to come.

You rather spend time lining up at the petrol station, burning petrol and causing a terrible jam, which in the end, when you try to get out and move on your way home, you get caught in the same jam you created, burn the same amount of petrol and yeah... It basically means your wait wasn't worth it at all. The best part is, you guys can afford to line up along the highways, major roads and so on without having a single thought of others who may be rushing home or those who are really in need of petrol. Come on, we have to live with reality. We ain't in any fairy tale or Disney Land ladies and gentlemen. We are in Malaysia, a country located on mother earth, created by God, where people do live and die. We do not always 'live happily ever after'.

AND...

For once, I would support the move by the ruling government. Pak Lah, I've got your back. Let's see where I come from. Malaysia is a beautiful country with a wonderful government. Well, when it comes to petrol subsidy at least. We are a nation using one of the best petroleum around and the most interesting part is with the cheapest price. How can we possibly complain any further? Let's take Mauritius for example (I've got a friend from there). This is what I heard from him. Their country uses petrol that at times may not even be suitable for a car or vehicle for that matter. It spoils the engine and causes much problems. To add to their misery, the price of petrol is 2-3 times higher than ours and their standard of living is also way higher. We are basically living in PARADISE, for those who want to have the fairytale feeling, there you have it.

With the amount of subsidy that the government is spending on the nation or rather thirsty draculas of petroleum, we are lacking on so much of developement that may make the country a better place to live in. Then again, many will then crush my opinion by saying that the issue of corruption and misconduct of the funds will arise. Well, to a certain extent, I'll have to agree. Now, which country, in its political struggle will not be involved in corruption? Hence the phrase, 'Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.' This is something we cannot escape from.

Of course, the government has been given 50 years of chance and they are taking things for granted, but this is only true to a certain extent. They are rather traditional and are finding it difficult to cope to the advancement that we are pretty well-equipped with nowadays.

Lets just take everything aside and think rationally for once. Regardless of what happens, too much of subsidy from the goverment will make our country poorer and when our country gets poorer, we suffer. Lets all take this as a short term loss but a long term benefit. The government is still giving rebates accordingly right? They are still caring for us, the people as much as they want to 'make life harder' as most of us will put it.

The increase is the price of petrol is something that we cant avoid. So, lets stop complaining and move on with life aight? Its not that disasterous right? Lets hope that this move is for the better of the country and the people. The money the government saves from reducing the subsidies can be used for so many other things. I may be wrong but lets wait and see. And, Malaysians, for once, please stop all these bad habits. Its bad enough that we have heavy rain nowadays, and accidents happen more oftenly during rainy days. That adds to massive jams and the worst part, we always tend to stop, look but never go! What's wrong. Imagine an accident on the other lane but traffic is smooth but traffic on the non-accident lane is jammed up as if the accident had happened there. Just move and don't look. The numbers of the cars involved in the accident ain't gonna be of any use. Don't count on it.

So, don't add to the misery that we all face everyday coming back from work or study and lets be practical. Yes, the saving is true, save a little today, get a better tomorrow, but as things were going just now on my way back, its more of saving a little today, getting a bitter tomorrow.

I hope the government thru this move will be able to use the money from the subsidies given out all this while and make good use of it for better improvements in the country. Don't dissapoint us again! =)

In support of the increase in fuel price,

CK