Fuel prices rise, but so do political half-truths

 

Bersatu information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz’s recent Facebook post on the fuel price hike was written to stir anger, not to explain it.

Yet the anger itself is real, especially on the peninsula, where diesel has not risen in one sudden shock but through repeated weekly increases.

The jump announced for April 9 to 15 did not come out of nowhere. It followed a run of increases stretching from late February through March and into April.

People are not responding to a single headline. They are responding to a price trend that has become harder to ignore.

That matters because diesel is not just another pump price. On the peninsula, diesel runs through haulage, distribution, wholesale supply, farms, and construction sites.

When diesel rises again and again, traders do not see a technical adjustment. They see another cost that will be pushed down the chain. Households know what usually follows. Food, transport, and operating costs rarely stay still when diesel keeps climbing.

This is where Tun Faisal starts cheating the argument.

He quotes the highest figures as though every Malaysian is paying them in the same way. That is false by omission.

The Finance Ministry has said subsidised RON95 under the Budi95 initiative remains at RM1.99 per litre, while the unsubsidised rate rose to RM4.27. It also said diesel in Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan remains at RM2.15 per litre, even though the unsubsidised rate in Peninsular Malaysia climbed to RM6.72.

Those facts do not cancel the pain on the peninsula. But they do expose his trick. He is flattening a targeted pricing structure into a single political slogan.

Cross-country fuel comparisons

He then points to Thailand and Indonesia as though the case is settled. It is not. A weekly comparison at the pump proves only that countries are absorbing the same pressure in different ways.

Thailand kept some petrol prices unchanged and cut its diesel price on April 9. Indonesia kept certain benchmark retail prices steady through state controls.

That does not prove Malaysia alone has failed. It shows governments are making different fiscal choices, using different timings, and carrying different subsidy burdens.

The larger fact he avoids is that oil is no longer priced by crude alone. The final bill now includes the cost of insecurity.

Shipping risk, insurance premiums, and disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz are all feeding into the final cost. Once that happens, the issue is no longer just supply and demand. The issue is whether cargo can move normally, safely, and cheaply at all.

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So yes, people in Peninsular Malaysia are justified in being angry about diesel. They are not confused. They are watching a weekly rise in a fuel that drives the real economy. But that anger should not be handed over to politicians who edit out half the facts.

Destructive criticism

If Tun Faisal wants to criticise, then criticise properly: admit that diesel is hurting, ask how long this weekly climb can continue, and tell the public what should replace dependence on imported diesel.

That is where he has little to say. It is easy to repeat the highest numbers and tell the rakyat to feel betrayed. It is harder to explain the pressure honestly and harder still to offer a workable answer.

On that front, proposals such as Felda’s push for B100 biodiesel at least move the discussion beyond outrage. It does not solve today’s price pressure overnight, but it does point to the kind of serious alternative that should be discussed when imported diesel becomes more exposed to global disruption.

Instead, Tun Faisal falls back on the oldest political trick. He takes a difficult reality, strips away context, and sells indignation as though it were insight.

The rakyat are not stupid. They know when prices hurt. The rakyat know very well why diesel hurts more, because diesel sits inside the machinery of the real economy.

But they also deserve the full truth about why prices keep rising, who remains protected, what trade-offs are being made, and what alternatives might reduce Malaysia’s dependence on volatile imported fuel.

People are carrying the cost. Politicians should stop treating it like campaign material. - Mkini

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MAHATHIR MOHD RAIS is a former Federal Territories Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional secretary. He is now a PKR member.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.