The bigger issue behind the petrol hike

Petrol Ron 95 and diesel was raised by 20 sen yesterday.

Naturally, everyone is up in arms and complaining. The opposition will use this opportunity to the hilt. Remember we told you blah blah blah UMNO UMNO UMNO ... 

On the other side, the government through the media - mainstream and alternative -  will try to "explain" their action.

Both way, it is recycled materials.  Boring .....

So we will make this brief discussion fun with whassapp images received in the last 24 hours since we left the Minister of Finance II session with the mainstream media prior to PM's press conference at 6 PM Monday.

The same kids from the P Ramlee movie:

From our point of view, there is a bigger issue than just rising petrol hike.  

According to the Minister of Finance II, the subsidy bill is too big and something must be done to reduce it. So the petrol hike is about cutting the amount of subsidy.

Then he goes on to use the same set of arguments everytime there is rise in pump prices. Market is no more as it used to be at USD10-15 per barrel and it is now at USD80-100 per barrel.

Our oil prices is still okay as compared to other countries. 

Then he went to say it is not so bad. The only problem is there will be profiteering in which retailers will use it as an excuse to raise prices although the transportation content is not significant enough to raise prices.

The Minister acknowledged that but he didn't say anything much. YB Dato Bung Mokhtar used that same argument and got whacked.

It means that there is nothing that can be done but enforcement by Ministry for Domestic Trade. Problem is traders do not care. The moment the enforcement officer leaves, they are back to their ways. 

So far some argued that raising pump prices is common, so it is part and parcel of economic life.

The political argument was used. What is the big deal when water surcharge in Penang increase by 100%?

If one wants to get cheaper petrol, go to Kelantan, Penang and Selangor. An argument used to counter Pakatan Rakyat. If Pakatan Rakyat thinks they can reduce pump prices, show it now.


The argument clincher to all this is that Najib had said there will be no increase in petrol after the general election. The past newspaper cutting has resurfaced....

The mainstream newspapers was no help.

The Star, Sinar Harian and for all likelihood, The Sun and Malay Mail are critical.

Utusan Malaysia's frontpage headline, and reports by Astro Awani and Bernama were neutral.

Only Berita Harian, New Straits Times and TV3 helped out to give  the government point of view. 

One SMS received from Dato Akbar Ali gave an empirical explanation:

Isu kenaikan harga RON95:

1. Dlm isu ini tdpt 3 pihak utama: (a) pengeluar (b) pengguna - termasuk saya, dan (c) kerajaan.

2. (a) & (b) menjaga kepentingan masing2 yg berkonflik (maka tak hairan klu mereka tidak memahami satu sama lain) manakala (c) perlu mengharmonikan kedua2nya, di samping menjaga juga kepentingannya (agar kekal berkuasa).

3. Pengguna melenting sbb harga RON95 naik 20 sen (10.5%). Kehendak pengguna: turunkn lg harga.

4. Pengeluar menuntut kenaikan sekitar 30 sen sbb sejak setahun lalu kos tlh meningkat 15%.

5. Kerajaan cuba mengharmonikan kedua2 pihak ini dgn membenarkan kenaikan 20 sen itu (Kerajaan tak janji harga petrol tak dinaikkan sampai bila2). Pengguna bayar sikit manakala pengeluar dipaksa menerima keuntungan yg lbh rendah.

6. Kerajaan tidak bersedia membayar tambahan 20 sen dgn menambah kos subsidi sbb ia akn lbh menguntungkan orng kaya. Kos perbelanjaan pengangkutan (penggunaan) mereka lbh tinggi (15.9%) banding yg berpendapatan rendah (12.3%).

7. Tindakan kerajaan itu mampu menjimatkan RM1.1B pada tahun ini & RM3.3B setiap thn akan datang.

8. Pd umumnya, purata kos petrol isirumah hanyalah 9% drp jumlah perbelanjaan isirumah.  Ini bermakna kenaikan kos hanyalah 1% setahun. Bagi mereka yg berpendapatan rendah, ianya adalah lbh rendah lagi.

9. Kenaikan ini akn menyebabkan kos pengangkutan melompat 10% dan inflasi pasti akan berlaku spt pd 2008 tp pada kadar yg lbh rendah.

10. Sebaik2nya Kerajaan turut mengumumkan langkah2 mengurangkan beban rakyat (ini janji BN!) akibat kenaikan ini semasa mengumumkan kenaikan harga tersebut, termasuklah apa yg hendak dibuat utk rakyat berhubung dgn  wang yg dikatakan dapat dijimatkan berbilion2 itu! 

Candidate for Deputy Pemuda UMNO Chief, Lokman Noor Adam SMS an argument below but felt it is troublesome to the rakyat:

Kepada yang terima broadcast dibawah, jangan lupa baca pesanan saya di penghujung mesej ini.

Harga petrol di Malaysia dalam masa 23 tahun - sejak 1990)
Sebelum 90 - RM 0.89
Tahun 1990 - RM 1.10 (kenaikan RM 0.21)
01/10/2000 - RM 1.20 (kenaikan RM 0.10)
20/10/2001 - RM 1.30 (kenaikan RM 0.10)
01/05/2002 - RM 1.32 (kenaikan RM 0.02)
31/10/2002 - RM 1.33 (kenaikan RM 0.01)
01/03/2003 - RM 1.35 (kenaikan RM 0.02)
01/05/2004 - RM 1.37 (kenaikan RM 0.02)
01/10/2004 - RM 1.42 (kenaikan RM 0.05)
05/05/2005 - RM 1.52 (kenaikan RM 0.10)
31/07/2005 - RM 1.62 (kenaikan RM 0.10)
28/02/2006 - RM 1.92 (kenaikan RM 0.30)
04/06/2008 - RM 2.70 (kenaikan RM 0.78)
01/09/2009 - RM 1.80 (Turun RM 0.90)
16/07/2010 - RM 1.85
04/12/2010 - RM 1.90
03/09/2013 - RM 2.10 (kenaikan RM 0.20)

Zaman era pemerintahan Tun Dr Mahathir selama 13 tahun (1990 - 2003) harga minyak naik sebanyak 46sen.

Zaman era pemerintahan Tun Abdullah selama 5 setengah tahun (2003 - 2009) harga minyak naik sebanyak 1.38sen dan turun sebnyk 90sen.

Zaman era pemerintahan Dato'Seri Najib TunRazak selama 4 tahun (2009 - 2013) harga minyak naik sebanyak 25sen.

P/S Rakyat perlu sedar bahawa harga ini dipengaruhi oleh harga minyak dunia. Zaman 90an, harga minyak dunia hanya USD 15-25 satu tong, itu sebab Anwar mendabik dada zaman beliau menjadi Menteri Kewangan harga minyak hanya RM1.10 seliter. Tapi  zaman Pak Lah, harga minyak dunia naik hingga USD 143 satu tong. Harga minyak hari ini sekitar USD110 satu tong.

Anwar boleh janjikan bulan dan bintang pada rakyat, cuma mari kita guna akal kita...bolehkah Anwar turunkan harga minyak 50sen (Kos RM10.5b) dan dlm masa yg sama nak naikkan royalti minyak Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah dan Sarawak dari 5% kepada 20%. Bagaimana mungkin Anwar boleh tunaikan janji tambahkan subsidi minyak 50 sen jika dlm masa yg sama dia buat janji bg royalti minyak 20% yg pasti menggurangkan pendapatan negara.

Sebelum buat janji baru, tunaikanlah dulu 85% janji lama yg dia buat tahun 2004 di SgorBersambung........

Apapun alasan diiberikan untuk menghalalkan kenaikan harga RON 95 dan Diesel kali ini,  saya tetap kecewa dengan kerana buat pertama kalinya, kita telah secara jelas melanggar perjanjian bahawa usaha akan dilakukan untuk menggurangkan beban rakyat.

Memang sukar untuk mengambil keputusan berat ini, namun saya masih mengharap YAB Perdana Menteri dapat mencari solusi bagi mengembalikan subsidi untuk Ron95 setidak-tidaknya kepada golongan yang berpendapatan RM5,000 kebawah.  Samada memberikan vaucher subsidi petrol tambahan atau pemberian fleet card untuk golongan ini, semuanya terletak pada kebijaksanaan beliau.

Lokman Noor Bin Adam
Exco Pemuda UMNO Msia

Positive feedbacks from Dato Akbar and Lokman.

Another positive feedback and with a humpurous tone from MyMassa here. Surely PM did not raised pump prices to teach Liverpool for beating Manchester United.

MyMassa felt that the culprit that pressured PM to raise pump prices was PEMANDU. In the presentation, they mentioned that we had delayed the subsidy rationalisatioon plan by 3 years. 

PEMANDU have been a vocal advocate to cut subsidies and it was Dato Idris Jala that mentioned Malaysia will be bankrupted and be like Greece when he first started PEMANDU. Below is what he think two years ago:

This is the point we are reiterating and it is a bigger issue than just rising pump prices. It is the neo-liberal ideas of doing away with subsidy which is the hallmark of PEMANDU thinking.

Proponent of nation building agenda like us see subsidy as a way a nation shares it's wealth with the rakyat, way of helping the less fortunate and those in need of help, and a social reprogramming tools.

But, neo-liberal view subsidy as distortion to free market and reduce competitiveness in the global market, In other words, neo-liberal is only interested in the interest of Multinational Corporation and big businesses. They worry what other western countries say.

One way of dealing with it is to be ready and not be dependent on subsidies. The Malay word is berdikari from the shortening ofberdiri atas kaki sendiri.

In facing the pump hike, resort to ways of cutting down usage and be economical. Whether pump price is rising or not, it is still a positive attitude that all should adopt. Bloody hell, these ar really funny insults.

From the political view, it is bad news because people will not take it likely when there was denial but it turned out true. It will make people believe in rumours which they conclude usually end up true. 

Already PM is made fun off by the opposition.

BR1M program is also made fun off. PM said to compensate for the, BR1M will be raised. But it is only serves the lower income group, as some argued in our whassapp. What about the badly squezed middle class?

For nothing, Datin Seri Rosmah, which has no executive power to determine such decision, is being villified for nothing.

Even Barisan Nasional and UMNO is being criticised.

This opposition does not give UMNO a break. Please la ... they are busy with their Raya Open Houses and bersilat to win seats in the party election.

Problem is can we rely on Anwar to solve the problem?

Still fresh in our mind was Anwar's shallow understanding of economics in his debate with Dato Ahmad Shaberry Chik. 

Till today, oil price have gone up, up and down but still up, Anwar still offer to the people to bring down pump prices by 50 sen the day Pakatan Rakyat won. It sounds like another Kampung Buah Pala promise.

His argument on IPP is decades out dated. Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with TNB has long changed and YTL's fixed prices is no more a comfortable profit margin. Tan Sri Ani Arope gripe are no more there.

DAP is making an issue of it using corruption, leakeage and etc but guess who was jamming the pump stations with their long queues?

90% are Chinese. Doesn't matter la... they are more concern with saving money. Good for them, 

Yes, we have no choice but to face the reality of rising oil prices and the need to redeploy the never enough financial resources to more productive and economic multiplying activities to achieve the target of the high income model.

But, why not give the comfort to the rakyat that the big bosses and Menteris would set a good example by reducing their luxurious perks. UMNO will end their wasteful Raya Open houses tradition and keep it simple and efficient.

For the last 24 hours, every common man in the street like taxi driver, retail shopkeepers, train commuters, etc. that we meet with and ask their view on the pump hike are so sarcastic and pointing fingers at corruption, orang besar-besar, excesses, etc.

The big bosses in Putrajaya can say it is only perception and there is no way of handling perception. There is a way if the Government and leaders show some earnestness.

The real Dato Najib is sensitive to happenings on the ground if he i made known.

Government must explore some austerity drive to reduce government commitment in luxury projects not necessary in times of subsidy rationalisation like new Menara PNB, new Razak Exchange, and other glut contributing property projects.

Resource depleting government activities like PEMANDU and Talentcorp should be scrapped immediately. It will help revive morale of Government servants and gives hope to the really good people in Government.

Let economic planning work be done by real economist and planners at EPU. Not PEMANDU and their exorbitantly paid Consultants which are without necessary and sufficient experience and capability. How come a 2-3 year work experaince chap could be paid a JUSA C level and fly around in Business Class?

Since Dato Wahid Omar did mention in his earlier press statements as Minister that he will look into improving delivery system, thus why the need to have two outfits to look into delivery of public sector?

For that feedback, will we get a Pingat Kewangan Negara?

Anyway, here are more funny pictures on the pump prices....

Sialan betul ....

Malaysia was built over more than 50 years through pragmatism and not by adhering to any ideology. 

Our forefathers picked on the best part of communism and capitalism. Even the Islam that we practise is not as per the political Islam ideas that is being popularised in the Middle East and that is now failing for whatever reasons. 

Neo-liberal ideas has spread itself into government, business naturally, GLCs, BN, DAP, PKR, PAS, etc. It believes in a laisse fairre economy. A capitalist free market economy will not allow the lower economic class Malays, Kadazan, Bajau, Iban, poor Chinese, Indian, etc the chance to  move up the economic class.

It is a pipe dream to say that one born with insufficient capital can work their way up through educaton and by having super genius mind. It needs support, assistance and to be nurtured by a system that is fair and just. Market mechanism is NOT fair and just. It is never far sighted. There must be some sort of intervention.

Being trapped in this neo-liberal ideology is dangerous. Neo-liberalism is the completion of political liberalism or just plain liberalism which has the hidden intention of neo-colonialism.  

The way forward is to think in accordance to nation building approach. It is THE way to keep us foreverMerdeka!

- Another Brick in the Wall