Up Up & Away!!!!
Yesterday afternoon around 4.30pm (Malaysian Time: 11.30pm), I open Paul Tan's Automotive Blog while having my lunch/dinner/afternoon tea. I nearly puked all over my laptop when I saw the most recent post --> New Petrol & Diesel Prices Effective 5th June 2008 The new Malaysian fuel price is rising like crazy in just 1 day! 70cents rise for petrol and RM1 for diesel overnight!!! I can't believe my own eyes!!! The first thing in my mind is my house's car and my dad.... After calculation, it will be around RM100 increase every month for my house's car's fuel. I can't believe it... The government is going to give out cash by using postal orders when car owners renew road tax and insurance, but the subsidy amount is not even half of the amount increase!! And it will be taking ages to process. Now I bet many Kancil drivers have to go back to motorcycles again as it is not possible for low income people to have a car anymore, even a used one.
As a chain reaction, prices of everything else will be increasing like mad from groceries to food to anything related, or even non related to fuel. The only thing that will NOT increase will be the salary. Speaking of salary, I am now in England, which I feel English people are lucky that the Government here sets a minimum wage of £5.53 per hour which even lowest income group can get basic living standards, feel that Malaysian government should set it as well. The wages paid will not be the government's money anyway, it will be the employer's. Easier said than that actually. Lazy to explain my concept anyway.
Now worrying about my family. Very worried. really. I can't even save myself now, how am I going to subsidise my family's extra expenses for fuel price hike.
Will Malaysia be like Indonesia soon....? I wonder.... The inflation by this time's fuel price hike will be unbelievable, especially for people who lives in low wage area which salary doesn't move up at all. A plate of noodles will be RM5 to RM6 in my hometown soon. People's pay will still be Rm1000 a month since many many years ago. business are going to close down, unemployed people caused by closures of non-profitable business, no money to buy food, food business has no profit, and turning around again, if you know what I mean. People who doesn't have food will start to protest, and everything will be in chaos.
God bless Malaysian people. It is depressing. Extremely.
