Monday 12 November 2007

Magic Formula

"... the present fuel subsidy scheme could not go on as it was costing the Government RM80bil a year".

To be fair to the person who made the above statement, yes, the price of crude has gone over USD90 and may hit the century mark soon. To be fair to Malaysians, Malaysia is a net exporter of crude and any price increase in the price of crude means more money for the country, not Petronas. One thing has got to be made clear. Petronas belongs to the people. It is not somebody's grandfather's company where they only need to pay tax like any corporate citizen and the rest of the money is theirs.

Now, people are talking everywhere about this strange suggestion that the rich pay more for fuel and the poor pay less. Hey, don't get me wrong, I am not against everything that the government does. If it really works that way, its okay with me but then the rich could always pay more, that's why we call them rich. I am just wondering, like many of my friends, how are they going to implement this?

A friend said to me something that made sense, at least it made sense to me. They are worried about the amount they have to come out in subsidies because that could curb their spending. If their spending is not curbed then they could carry out more ridiculously priced projects where they, their friends and kins could reap vulgar profits. This being so, they must find a way.

Since there are more poor then rich in this country, the present subsidy helps the poor more while the rich are smiling. If they were to cut the subsidies then its their friends and kins who stand to gain from the extra projects they could implement while the poor would be burdened by having to pay extra either through more expensive fuel or more expensive road-tax. As for the rich, you can triple the cost of fuel and it doesn't amount to much for them, after all, they are rich aren't they?

Now lets see how they are going to implement this? I am not an economist or a brilliant businessman so I could only see 2 strategies that they may take to implement this.

The first one is a very-very silly and confusing strategy where you pay for fuel at different prices according to the cc of your engine. How are they going to do this, I don't know and I agree that this is silly. If implemented, you could always fill your kancil up and transfer the fuel via a hose to your Mercedes or Honda Accord or Lexus. Now who is going to stop the service station operator from mistaking a Rover or Jaguar for a Savvy or Kelisa?

The above strategy doesn't make sense so lets kill it. The next one is to increase the road tax. Road tax were cut about 2 years ago and now they may have to increase it. If this strategy is employed, I can guarantee you that it is not only going to go to pre-cut days but may double that.

I don't believe that the subsidies amount to 80 billion ringgit. as they claimed. Lets half it and make it 40 billion. Lets say they want to half the subsidy to 20 billion meaning they have to earn 20 billion somewhere. 20 billion divide by all the vehicles in the country comes to quite a hefty sum. If they chose to exempt motorcycles than its gone case for all car-owners.

If you really want to make the rich pay and ensure the poor are not hurt then why not impose a levy on the rich or on the price of luxury cars. Levy on luxury cars will not net them 20 billion thats for sure.

So how are they going to do it? Please somebody enlighten me, the suspense is killing me. I am anxious because I need to know, how else are they going to make my life miserable. The prices of essentials are already driving me crazy.

32 comments:

Accia said...

salam chegu,
wah chegu, before implementing, you are already transferring from your kancil to your mercedes. with you around, they have to think harder kot?

Anonymous said...

Yes, you do make a good point. Exporter of crude oil and subsidization? Don't we make enough for ourselves? Give back to the rakyat please!

Unknown said...

accia,
If the rosd-tax or price of fuel goes up then I will give away all my rolls royces, mercedes, bentleys and honda cups.

Unknown said...

laceration,
Yes, whatever earned by the country belongs to the rakyat so they must give back not divide amongst themselves.

jibeng said...

Assalamualaikum,
Maybe it will help if you understand the big picture of this whole oils and subsidies scenario.

I was in the same state as you and sought after the net to give me any hint of hope in understanding.

This has led me to this link:
Questions and answer on Oils and subsidies:http://www.neac.gov.my/index.php?ch=62&pg=152&ac=1348

See whether any of the explanations make sense or not.

Unknown said...

Bro... You want answers? Me too... and believe me, at this point, the person suggesting the idea is already having the solution and it will not just break our hearts but also our trust!

Mat Salo said...

KTN said, "... somebody enlighten me, the suspense is killing me. I am anxious because I need to know, how else are they going to make my life miserable. The prices of essentials are already driving me crazy."

In the 'land of can', misery is a given. Sabar chegu, we're all dying to know too... Saspen ni nak tunggu depa announce.

Anonymous said...

Wow ! Cikgu, everybody being struck with Yellow Fever huh? kata tak nak to BN!

Bergen said...

It's difficult to believe that the price increase is gonna make life unbearable for the rakyat when the rakyat are spending as if money is going out of style during weekends at the malls. You'd think nothing can get to them. They'll complain but you don't see them taking the effort to save but instead spend spend spend. You see this during raya and you see this happening every other weekend.

The crowd at the mall is a good indicator that Malaysians are happy with the present government.

Sometimes I wonder if we are barking up the wrong tree.

Anonymous said...

We already have the mechanism to make the rich pay more for the petrol and all you need to do is to remove the fucking subsidy. The rich uses much more petrol than the regular joe rakyat. With subsidy, the rich gets to enjoy the subsidies meant for the poor, together with the kiasu Singaporean and the Thai taxi and pick up, everyone gets to enjoy the subsidy much more than the rubber tapper in some estate.

We are not dealing with complex mathematical equation on fuel subsidy. Just get it removed and with the saving generated, use it for the poor minus the fancy projects and bloat up expenditure.

Pak Lah, we are telling you the truth, are you still fucking deaf?

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

since my wheelchair is human-powered, aku tak tau nak komen camna. but since my dad belongs to the middle class, we agreed on one thing...,

its high time the rich suffers! hihi...i doubt it will hurt their wallet that much anyway.

Unknown said...

Jibeng,
With all due respect, the bigger picture is that so much of Petronas' money have been squandered and robbed that we are now left poor. Saving from the many years that Petronas has been in operation could certainly tide the country over now it her time of need.

Unknown said...

Raden,
I love the 'trust' part. Yes, my trust is broken, irreparably broken.

Unknown said...

MS,
Yes, maybe they are consulting Mona Fendi's spirit as to exact date to announce.

Unknown said...

AlHusseyn,
Memang tajuk blog saya khas di tuju kepada BN

Unknown said...

Bergen,
When we are hurt, we bark, and since that is the only tree around, and we could see how the tree is selective in providing shade, we bark real loud.

monsterball said...

kata tak nak...don't crack your head over this one.
Firstly ...being a nett exporter....we should e filthy rich...but it seems we import more than we export. That we need to get it clear first.
Secondly...leave UMNO to their smart formula. Usuallly..it does not work...so be prepared to have tough life ahead..all Malaysians...but this tough life will come AFTER general elections.
I don't know about others....my expenses have increased by at least 25% more for the same thing I buy for house...and infact could be 35% ...if I do not start looking for cheaper alternative stuffs.
Lets see how our neighbors like Brunei...Thailand...Indonesia and Singapore are doing.
UMNO can bullshitt all of us...but the truths will always be there.
From what I see..to cover up all the corruptions....looses of income by government agencies and their usual borak ways of living...UMNO thinks they own the country...and we are powerless.
The 40,000 walkers on 10th instant which includes me...is the starting of our road to changes by voters....just see it grow to few millions...come election time.

Unknown said...

Frankie,
The problem is that we need fuel more than the fucking rich. Their formula, whatever it is, is going to hurt the poor who are poor and the rich who obviously are rich. They are not going to Rob Peter to pay Paul. They are going to rob Peter and Paul to ensure Lah, Ting and Samy remain comfortable.

Unknown said...

Kerpie,
Exactly, whatever formula they use, the rich are not gonna be hurt as much as us not rich.

ZABS said...

Salam Che'gu,
Sudah jadi resam mereka gitu, akan buat kecoh2 dulu, buat statement yang bermacam2 dari kuncu2 mereka, kemudian buat announcement, supaya rakyat jadi keluru. Bila akhirnya harga dinaikkan, orang pun dah tak berapa minat nak bantah dah.

Anonymous said...

salam, my first time here. eventho we are among the top exporter, but OMG, we still have to depend on others. to differentiate between the rich and the poor, come on la, i dun think it does matter cuz believe me, the poor will still have to bear all the consequences more than the rich. one more thg, i believe in whatever we do, we have to manage our resources well. please someone talk to Pak Lah please...where are all our economists? duh.

tokasid said...

Minta laluan:

coop: where are all the economists?
Well now that you asked the question, I'll just make a wild guess. I think the 'economists' are in the 4th floor laughing their hearts out. Their chief economist( maybe we should call them ekor-no-miss) is the one an only SIL, who was the first one to speak up the too much subsidy.

I might be wrong but I know I might be right.

Unknown said...

Monty,
Yes, their formula usually are half-past six formula. Prices of things are going up bt the day and there is no indication that any of them would be coming down.

Unknown said...

Exactly Zabs. Ini la yang dikatakan typical yahudi punya cara nak mengelirukan orang. Nampaknya the Jews can learn a thing or two gtom our leaders in how to be dirty. Sedih, cukup sedih.

Unknown said...

coops,
Thanks for coming.Exactly what is in my mind. Whatever they do they are not gonna spare the poor people. Just watch, its the poor who are gonna be hurt most.

Unknown said...

Doc,
Very nice, 'ekor-no-mist'. Dalam hal ni lets see how 4th floor is going to tackle the problem. Apa saja depa buat, depa akan pasti bank akaun depa tak terjejas malah bertambah maju.

xonar said...

imo, we should appoint a capable finance minister to manage the wealth and economy of this country.
how did the PM managed the finance of the country when he don't have a clue about economic development.
what is all this corridors crap for when there is no foreign investors.
is just like spending heaps of money on advertisement but no one is buying the product because of bad quality.

monsterball said...

I am so glad Dr.Hsu took my advise to visit your blog.
Now I advise you to visit his.
Both of you can be great friends.

Unknown said...

Penang-Kia,
They couldn't care less really. As long as they can spend sinful sums and become instant millionaires and billionaires it is considered objective achieved and in the meantime the commoners continue to suffer.

Monty,
Who is Doc Hsu and whats his/her blog?

monsterball said...

KTN....his blog is "Dr.Hsu's Forum" and his blog nick is "hsudarren"

Anonymous said...

salam Che Gu,

Frankly speaking, this subsidy crap is going to be another failure right from the start. Look at the diesel subsidy scheme for the fishermen. I can say the most happy people are the fishery dept. Most of them are driving new and bigger cars and of course not forgetting the penyangak UMNO.
Like Monsterball said, we being a nett exporter, must be filthy rich.
Every year, without fail, Petronas will declare record breaking sales/profit. However we the rakyat had no chance at all to "TUMPANG" sikit pun.

In country like Iran, a nett exporter like us, the fuel price is dirt cheap. When I was there in 2003, the price of petrol was selling at RM0.30 per ltr. Whrere else at that time ours was at RM1.10 per ltr.
This goes to tell how much our government loves the rakyat.

kimasapi.

Unknown said...

anon,
There are also other countries whose petrol price are cheap but our government never ever wanted to compare price with them.
I love the part about our government 'loving' the rakyat. Maybe we can compile other instances of how the government 'loves' the rakyat and highlight them.

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