I honestly do not understand the oil business. I still cannot comprehend how the crude oil price per barrel is set, and fluctuating every freaking hour. I cannot grasp the concept of how increasing the oil price in Malaysia should help accommodate this price hike, when Malaysia itself is an oil-producing country.
Deep down in my immature thoughts, I believe that sometime, somewhere, some group of people are playing fool of us. While we are whining at how bad our lives will soon turn out, they are laughing maniacally, admiring their own smart-ass-ness at screwing others. While we have to fork out more money to cover out daily expenses, those people are cashing in more $$$.
As I post this, Malaysian petrol price has gone up 40% - from RM1.92 to RM2.70 per litre. Truly devastating. But some say it is still the lowest price in the whole South East Asia region. Oh did I mention we're an oil-producing country?
On the other hand, putting all the ranting aside, I believe (hope) that the government's move to reduce oil subsidy has some reasonable explanation. I don't know what it is, as I really suck at economy and finance. I'm simply reassuring myself that those great thinkers and high-minded people of Malaysia know what they are doing, and not for the filling of their own wallets.
So, if anyone has any great 'Complete Idiot's Guide to...' article or explanation to what's going on, please point me to them.
(Kesian Azie ye... baru beli kerete MyVi...)
Petrodollar warfare: Can switching to PetroEuro help fix this?
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Meanwhile, at the other pole of my immature thoughts, I think we are partly to be blamed ourselves. This, however, may be quite different from all the common and mainstream tirades you have heard. So brace yourself while I'm putting the blame on YOU.
Being the Malaysians that we are, it becomes habitual we you need a car to go out. When a convenience store is just 200m away from home, what is wrong with going over ON FOOT? Panas? Alaa takpela dekat je. Bawak kereta/motor lagi menyumbang kepada kepanasan global.
Every time we shop at a supermarket, we insist on obtaining a sheet of plastic bag to go with anything we buy, even for a tiny piece of pencil sharpener. What were you going to do with so many plastic bags anyway? Buat bungkus cempedak? For all I know, manufacturing of plastic bags require petroleum.
Currently there are literally hundreds of Sainsbury's plastic bag at my home right now, where the prospect is to throw them away as we're moving out. They are not recyclable, not biodegradable, extremely high longevity which will remain in the landfill for staggering thousands of years. What should have been done was to reuse them every time we go shopping. Or not taking a new plastic bag at all for a packet of Walker's Sensation potato chips. It's far too late now hahahahhaa...
Despite vigorous campaign by the Malaysian government (and UK), and a lot of money wasted on educating citizen to RECYCLE, we still DON'T KNOW HOW TO. As in don't know HOW to recycle, what can be recycled, where are the recycle bins etc. It is always far more convenient to toss that Tongkat Ali Power Root can into the nearby garbage bin. Recycle bin tu jauh kan. dkat hujung jalan tu. nak kene kumpul banyak2 baru berbaloi. pastu nak kene naik kereta lagi. eh silap, jalan kaki.
The symbol that lost its meaning
Ultimately, my point is: In a situation where we never put any effort in caring our mother earth, lagi mau komplen harga minyak mahal!!!
But if you feel that you've done enough, and are severely affected by the price rise, feel free to rant about it, and allow me to join you.
9 Comments:
Iye..iye..memang mahal pun minyak! Bising la budak ni. Nyap nyap nyap! hehe. Miss u (tak membantu langsung comment i ni..lalalalallala)
"But some say it is still the lowest price in the whole South East Asia region."
They are using direct conversion here. They forgot that our real income is actually very low. The Malaysians' disposable income is waayyy lower than say our neighbour, Singapore.
Lepas ni jalan kaki la...boleh kurus :p
Exactly! Tu yang tak faham tu!
And the only way they can compensate this price hike is by really strengthening public transport system. Which at the moment is very.. poopy.
Oh BTW please recycle ok. :D
erm,..actually if we wanna mention the reason why all this is happening...dah jadi mcm sensitive issue lah..so as i told u...cakap malam pandang2 cakap siang jeling2..betul ke ek..let us sit n read more blogs...chow..
its an economically necessary move, but as a political decision, it requires a certain amount of nuance and wisdom in its execution.
but then again, economics is not all about numbers and figures yes?
Here's the analytical version:
Removal of subsidy: A very necessary step to balance government budgets, and shake Malaysian mindsets.
Political timing: No one likes Pak Lah. What better time to take drastic, unpopular action?
Rebate: The most problematic measure. Think about our public services delivery competence & efficiency. Yeah, the lower class is to either be stuck in waiting lines, or refused payment on technicalities.
Public transport: Companies say they might need to close certain routed. The exact opposite a PUBLIC TRANSPORT COMPANY should do in this opportunity of potential increased ridership.
The public: Lied to by politicians, swallowed the lies, now shocked like idiots when the elections have brought the same federal government that didn't promise the opposite.
The (federal) opposition politicians: Says 'I told you so'.
The federal government: Change your lifestyle. (Too late to change your vote, my dear electorate)
whoever you are mr/mrs/miss/tan sri/dato' seri/datin seri/dato'/datin/tuan/puan h.a.s, i like your analysis!
nadia: takpe. tak sensitive. kalau semue bende nak sensitive jadik tak progressive la.
wanaimran: thanks for the explanation on your blog.
h.a.s: so true.. so true..
fadhli: He's currently a Mr, but a Tan Sri gonna be.
Maybe we should emulate the Swedish. They have to 'pay' for each plastic bag whenever they go shopping. This encourages them to reuse the bag, or simply bring their own shopping bag
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