Boredworkers.com

Two days earlier, this topic had came up during a passing conversation with some friends at the local mamak stall. Grazer had mentioned that he heard rumours that the petrol prices were going to go up… soon. Well, I was outside earlier and saw this super long queue in front of the petrol station. Out of curiousity, I popped inside to ask the cashier whether the petrol prices were going to increase. I can now confirm that its going to go up by 30 sen at midnight tonight.

30 bloody freaking sen! From its current price of RM1.62 per litre, that’s a 18.52% inflation! If the last increase was bad, this round of increase is worse. The consumer is definitely going to feel the repercussions of this latest hike over the coming weeks as vendors, merchants, and other service providers increase the price of their goods and services to offset the increased cost. Or at least that’s the excuse they’ll be giving.

Over the last 1 1/2 years, petrol prices have increased nearly two fold. All things considered, this isn’t too bad, as the government still subsidises a substantial amount. But that subsidy also means that there is potential for the prices to increase a whole lot more. Ultimately, the aim of the government is to achieve a subsidy free petrol market. A free market if you will. The question then is whether Malaysia is ready for such a change? Hopefully, the economy doesn’t suffer too much from this.

Neighbouring countries have seen similar price hikes in fuel prices as governments pull out their subsidies. The general public has suffered the consequences. Some protest but still, it is something that one must live with.

My car takes in 50 litres of petrol on a full tank. That means I’ll have to pay RM15.00 more after the fuel hike. That’s close to RM100.00 per pop. That’s going to hurt alot IMHO. Lunch is going to cost a whole lot more. Its turning out to be more economical to take the toll roads instead of going through the jam. It will be more economical for WL to take the public transport home instead of me picking her up (not that I won’t continue to do so anyway :P). Unfortunately, we’re still getting the flaky annual increments that doesn’t even cover inflation. Talk about reducing the already diminished purchasing power of the average Joe.

I suppose at the end of the day, its a choice between two evils. The government continues to subsidise fuel prices and takes a hit to its reserves. Or pull out the subsidy and let the shockwave break over the population, hoping that it doesn’t break anything else in the process. If it does, then we’re all in trouble. I think the government has weighed its choices and think that the latter is the lesser. We’ll just have to wait and see whether their reasoning is sound.