Higher Fuel Costs And The Waking Of A Nation

As expected, the price of petrol went up today. I will now have to pay RM2.70 per litre to fill my fuel-guzzling Proton Wira. Niamah!!!

Our petrol prices are still among the cheapest in the region, even after today’s hike. I am grateful for that. So, while I’m not too concerned about the actual cost of filling up at the pumps, I am however not too happy with the increase in electrical tariffs and worried about the possible increase in prices of food and other basic neccessities, as in the past. I’m just waiting to see if I am going to be asked to pay more for my favourite plate of char koay teow now.

I hope the economy will remain stable and realistic. We’ve been spoilt (admit it, we HAVE been spoilt) for so many years with high government fuel subsidies that we’ve taken a lot for granted. We raised the price of goods at the slightest of cost adjustments and have inevitably raised the cost of living throughout over the years. What will happen in the future when fuel prices go up even higher? Tiu… will the rich be the only ones able to live a decent life on Malaysian soil?

I hope that today’s little ’shock’ will wake our nation up to the fact that we need to start changing the way we live, the way we think and and the things we do if we are to survive the future. Personally, I feel the reductions in subsidies are a blessing and a chance for Malaysia (and all Malaysians) to further mature and ‘grow up’ to become a stronger nation in this ever-changing world. I only pray that we will not be hasty and fumble over in the process.