Too Much!

30 Sen Is Too Much

I have to agree with YB Lily Yong and her 'Too Much' remark. Like most Malaysians who have their own vehicle, I got to refill my car's petrol tank today.

So for RM40 I would now get about 21 litres....felt really gloomy


I was cheering the meter to go to F - go go go! but it never reached there

After that I went to have my favourite Laksa and Ice Lemon Tea. Previously the Laksa Special was RM6 and the Ice Lemon Tea Kaw Kaw was RM1.20. Now its RM6.50 and the Ice Lemon Tea is RM1.40.

Surprise at the increase? You can say I was taken aback for a while. I don't really know how to describe it. Maybe dumbfounded? I went back to the time I read this article in the New Straits Times.

The newspaper article (picture copy from Jeffooi) which assurred Malaysians that the food prices would not hurt our pockets or savings account.

Okay, it says that overall the price of food should increase by a very very very very minimal amount. I am trying to figure out how my favourite Laksa saw an increase of almost 10% and the mouth watering Ice Lemon Tea by more than 10%. What is the secret formula used? I even applied Newton's Law on Gravity on this rise in price because I believe in Newton's 'What goes Up must Come Down'. Man, I can't wait to present my findings that the price of Fuel in Malaysia defies Newton's Law!! Was there a cumulative function somewhere in the equation which I missed, say the gas to cook the laksa gravy, its ingredient and the flour and flavourng for the mee. The fishermen who went to capture those large prawns has incorporated their e-diesel and e-petrol costs to the overall cost of catching the prawns. The Ice Lemon tea - 4.6% + 5.1% + 3.1% + the cost of fuel from the delivery of the sugar and workers wages = increase of Ice Lemon Tea by 20 sen. I can go crazy on this.

March has not really ended yet and its only coming to the second week to the price increase. One word best describes the feeling .... 'Ouch!' So I would be drafting out a 'Change in Lifestyle' Plan quickly tonight to address on the Lifestyle Gap that is set to engulf me.

Any normal layperson (icluding me) can predict that the overall cost of living is set to increase drastically. We don't need anyone with a doctorate in economics to tell us what is going to happen. No salary increase or Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) can offset that because even if there are going to be any increase, its always very minimal - but hey, anything is better than nothing. Just the fact that things won't be that cosy anymore.

Picture obtained from The Star Mar 8 (p.10)

One thing worth special mention here is that our Federal Minister for Housing and Local Government Dato Sri Ong Ka Ting made an effort to go Leadership By Example with regards to Public Transport. If its true that he uses public transport most of the time, we really do have to salute him. We can then invite him to Sarawak and from the Kuching International Airport to Kuching City, we can board the regular bus. For the fun of it, you can also join the Best Caption Contest about this picture conducted by Patrick Teoh's Blog. Contest closes on 15 March 2006. At least it can help to put some smiles in our face as we bear the painful load of that an extra 30 sen.

Comments

Kazookian said…
You can complain about the price increase to the local office of the Domestic Trade Ministry you know. Just because it's your favorite place, the more you have to do it!

Haha. Right, we always complain about lack of enforcement but if we dont inform the relevant authorities, who will?
Hey Ian - I will complain it to your former Economic Advisor Bigshot who is with me now :)