THE TWIN DISASTERS ABOUT TO STRIKE MALAYSIA

 And no one seems to be doing anything about them.

• No Malaysia is not being "rocked" by the resignations of the two Cabinet ministers.  
• They  can go and jump in the sea. 
• It will not make any difference. 
• Who told me this? 
• YOU told me this - dear reader. 
• Dear reader, you tell me. 
• These clowns along with 30 other clowns in the Almari have been in office for two and a half years already. 
• What have they done for the country? 
• Have things got better or have things got worse? 

A 30 year old boy has been locked up for nine months now simply because he did not like his neck being licked by other than a pet cat or puppy. And no one can help this boy? What kind of a country are we living in?  And Mr Licker (or Sucker) is pulling all sorts of stunts to keep the boy from having his day in a Court of Law.  What type of society is this? 

(Yo all of you fools, after you shake his hands make sure you wash your hands with Sabun Serbaguna Cap Kapak. You just dont know in whose exhaust pipe the fellow has stuck his hands before he shakes yours). 

Disaster no. 1 is now 38 days away - July 8th. That is when we are going to be hit by Donald Trump's Tariffs. I think it is going to happen. And what are we doing about it? Anything? Nothing?

That 24% appears to be a baseline tariff. A starting point. It could go higher. Microchips may be given some reprieve but not forever.  Vietnam has to grapple with 46% tariffs. Imagine what will happen to Bayan Lepas in Penang when (not if) our microchips are hit with high tariffs. 

Only the Chinese appear to be making headway in their discussions with the Americans. They are America's single largest trading partner. The Americans have already given the Chinese an extra one month - until August 8th - to come to an agreement on their mutual tariffs. Meaning they will most likely come to some agreement. If the US and China come to terms on the tariffs then the Americans will possibly apply the same model to all other countries. So better watch out.

Some cock-eyed people are trying to blame Trump for imposing high tariffs. Look at it with your other cock-eye 'How is it ok for YOUR country to impose high import tariffs on American goods but it is not ok for America to impose tariffs on your goods?'  Where did you learn business or economics? Under the coconut tree?

This is what Donald Trump is saying. You lower your tariffs against my goods then I will lower my tariffs against your goods. Free trade.

Because of tariffs (direct and indirect) the Ford Mustang sold here in Malaysia for RM460,000 to RM600,000. The same car sells in the US for about RM140,000. How can that be possible? But that is what has been happening.   It is called direct and indirect tariffs.

 

• Donald Trump will actually make our lives easier. 
• Imagine buying a Ford Mustang for RM140,000. 
• Then the other RM140,00 tin-can cars must cut their prices to below RM100,000. 
• Isnt that a good thing? 
• Think people, think. 
• Please use your otak.

If they dont cut tariffs (direct and indirect) by July 8th, then Disaster no. 1 is now 38 days away - July 8th.

 

Disaster No. 2 is much more serious than American tariffs. 

• Eateries feeling the heat 
• Going purple: restaurants have to phase out using household gas cylinders
• May 1 eateries, hawker stalls, barred from using subsidised gas cylinders
• Instead use new purple 14kg commercial gas cylinders
• RM70 – 3 times the price 
• subsidised gas cylinders sold at just RM26.
• also required to apply for yearly permit for more than three such cylinders 
• (Why and what the hell for? Esok kentut pun perlu ada permit kah?)
• crack down to ensure food and beverage industry complies.
• May 1, kickstarted Ops Gasak 
• Since then, seized RM883,000 worth of gas cylinders
• LPG subsidy cost gomen RM3.4bil
• premises using more than three cylinders - must apply for a permit 
• Industry warn switch to commercial gas lead to price hikes.
• This change will affect our costs.
• noodle shop selling 70 bowls using two cylinders in a day
• price of noodles will increase more than RM1 per bowl.
• small restaurant uses about 100 cylinders per month, RM2,600
• now we will have to fork out RM7,000. 
• that cost will eventually translate to the price of food.

My Comments:

Yesterday I had lunch at an eatery in PJ. The owner says he uses 4 to 5 gas tanks a day. Say 150 gas tanks a month. He now pays RM3,900 a month for cooking gas. With the price hike to RM70 per tank (the owner said he has to pay RM72 per tank) his gas cost will become RM10,800.

That is like paying the rental for another shop altogether. 

So what is going to happen? Simple. The price of teh tarik is going to go up who knows maybe another 20-30 sen. Roti canai may go up 20 sen or more. Your simple meal (rice, one meat and one vege with a drink) already costs anywhere between RM9.00 to RM15.00.  This is going to jump up. Prices of cooked food are going to jump up.

People will have to eat less outside. Or pack their own lunch from home. Eateries are going to suffer losses. 

• That mee stall owner will now have to sell 25 bowls of mee  just to cover the cost of his two gas tanks. 
• Before the price hike he only has to sell about 10 bowls of mee a day to cover his daily gas cost. 
• He now sells 70 bowls of mee a day. 
• If the price of mee increases by RM1.00 his sales will dip below 70 bowls a day. 
• The stall operators lives are going to become more difficult.

What about the makcik nasi lemak or the makcik selling tom yam. Can she afford to pay RM140 cash everyday for say TWO GAS cylinders? Will her warong have that kind of cash flow? Plenty of warongs and restaurants are going to lose their customers.

Unless they close one eye against the makcik warong - which happens all the time. Warong people operate everywheres, no need Fomema screening, no need Hepatitis jabs, no need grease traps, no need garbage disposal (just dump it behind the warong).  

Why do they like to make peoples' lives difficult all the time? Dont forget in July that e-invoice bullshit also kicks in. They will kill off the economy. Food prices are going to go up again.

Ordinary peoples' lives are going to become more difficult.

Instead of removing the subsidies on cooking gas, the gomen should INCREASE the subsidies on cooking gas. WHY? Because it directly impacts the cost of living for the entire country of 34 million people.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect that of MMKtT.