I just had a very confusing talk with my dear hubby who is an accountant by profession. I cannot understand a lot of things. I asked him, “Dear, if the price of oil keep falling, wouldn’t that affect our country since we are oil exporter? And if so, how did the DPM comes up with RM7billion which if I understand correctly, he said is due to the fall of oil price? I am very confused lah.”
So, he explained to me like a teacher telling his student. I got even more confused. In a gist, what I understand is, the export oil price by Petronas will of course fall and Petronas will get the brunt. And the extra RM7billion is actually from our local oil price. The Government does not have to pay so much subsidy for our petrol, hence the Government saved the money. But we are still paying the same price for the petrol. When the price increase, we consumers have to pay for the extra petrol price. When the price dropped, the Government pocketed the extra money they save from subsidy? Tiok boh?
Then, I asked my hubby, “In that case, the excess money is actually OUR money, right?” And after thinking further, I asked the hubby. “Then, what if the oil price shoot up again?”
Anyway, I am very sienz reading headlines like, “Roti canai to reduce by 20 sen.” WTF man….How often does the regular Malaysian eat roti canai? I eat roti canai like once a month only. The way I see it, the 20 sen price reduction is merely an ampu-bodek step by the mamak chains of restaurants to get into the good books of the Government so that they can secure more licences or loans to subsidise their business.
Today, our DPM assured us that if the hypermarkets reduce their prices, quoted below :
If the price cut can be carried out across the board, then we will be able to achieve the Government’s objective of ensuring that Malaysians’ well being during the crisis,” he said.
(The Star)
Eh, Mr. DPM, may I point out to you that only average income earners shop at hypermarkets? What about our poorer brothers and sisters who are struggling through? They live on basic food items, bought from kedai runcits. Please don’t give us this rose tinted scenario, can? These hypermarkets are slowly killing the kedai runcit competitiveness and hence, prices will remain high in the kedai runcit and our lower income rakyats will continue to suffer. Please lah, Mr. DPM, see for yourself. Hypermarkets are placed far away from residential areas, you think every Malaysians can afford to drive there and shop kah? We know who are the main shareholders of big hypermarkets so we know where you are coming from. But as a rakyat prihatin, I know the suffering ones are the lower incomes families whom have no voices. So, I am talking on their behalf.
If our DPM who is also our Finance Minister continues to give us these unrealistic measures to counter recession, soon we will all toppled. Trust me. See? This is the reality –
GEORGE TOWN: Some factories in Penang are expected to force their workers to take either paid or unpaid leave and may even resort to retrenchment to cut down on operation costs.
investPenang executive committee chairman Datuk Lee Kah Choon said the measures were being considered to avoid losses due to the economic slowdown.
“We are aware of the problems faced by the factories and are taking steps to advise them to prevent retrenchments,” he told newsmen Wednesday after a press conference on Penang Cultural Fest 2008 here.
The signs of things to come in the near future.
Sekian berita dari 5xmom channel.
I learned from a visitor from Penang at the Ipoh candlelight vigil last Sunday. He was just retrenched by his company. Another told me that her company is taking measures to cut costs like limiting use of stationeries, papers, mileage claims. As for businesses in KL, jobs are hard to come by. Our Finance Minister is talking bull that there is no slowdown in our economy! Of course la, those with their Swiss bank accounts will not feel the pinch like we ordinary folks. Even if they run short, still can dip into reserves, eh?
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Though I am a Mathematics teacher, I also don’t understand about the RM7billion thing. You save from paying the subsidy but like you said, when the petrol price shoot up, so government will get money from where? Confused! I think they don’t understand it too. They simply dumped a reason and think we will just forget about it and get on with our live.
I read that Sharir said he is going to fix a minimum price for our fuel and we are not going to have fuel price decrease every month. So, one moment the government said this and another moment the government said that. Really a flip flop sleepy government.
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Dear Lilian,
A buddy told me that the main reason the Gormen supports the Hypermarkets is EMPLOYMENT!!!! Just look at the mushrooming of these kind of Hypermart every where! Poor Mom & Pop stores!
Where else can one work in the cool comfort of Air Conditioning, Gets stylish- uniforms to wear, eat at subsidised food prices and perhaps free transport??????
No nit to work that HARD, no nit to sweat like a horse! Also got stylish toilet to use!
Ha!Ha!Ha!
Cheers and Regards
Birds Talking Too
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Bottom line is on the petrol issue, it is still the rakyat’s money, does not matter if the oil price goes up or down coz it is still the rakyat paying at the pumps. When the crude oil price went sky high, government says too expensive to maintain the subsidy, therefore must increase(drastically) price of petrol at kiosk. They forget, there will be chain reaction when the petrol price goes up……now they realize this but damage is being done. Then when the crude oil price took a dive, government claims Petronas is losing money, in order words government income also effected, therefore you realize petrol price have not come down to prior RM1.92/liter yet. This means with a lower cost(crude oil price down) but selling at higher price……gives you higher margin right? So, no matter at which end(high or low), it is still the rakyat paying for it but the government is taking all the profits. But it is the IPP people that is really benefiting as we common people have to pump petrol to go to work, buy food, send children to school etc etc. The common people does not pump petrol to generate additional income. But the IPP’s does in the form of subsidize diesel and charging TNB for the energy they produce.
Lastly, I don’t think our DPM is a very well verse person in financial issues let alone figuring out the benefit of cheaper roti canai’s. I bet he has not once shop in any hypermarkets or kedai runcit. I will also bet he does not know how expensive things have become and I am referring to daily necessity things rice, flour, chicken, fish, vegetables etc etc. I have not seen anything positive being implemented up till today that will see the rakyat survive thru this coming global recessions. Why I say that? Because he is not a person who knows how to look at things from outside the box. We need a leader who can do that, coz only a leader with these “abilities” will be able to “tackle” issues that will arise from this global phenomenon.
There is one thing that I am truly confused and maybe your husband might be able to shade some light and that is since everywhere in the world, everyone is losing money, where and who is holding the money? I am taught in every economic situation, when one side looses money, another side will gain from it, but in our current scenario everyone is losing money, so where is the money?
toolan – Wuah, you explained it so well. The extra money ah? Gone to Switzerland lor.
birds – But the hypermarkets don’t employ a lot of employees, no? I think more like they are shareholders lah.
choonie – Yalor, scary hor? They are like magicians, sekejap ada (RM7b) sekejap takdak.
peng – Other countries in recession, we are in denial. Hahaha.
I like Toolan’s POV. He is right that everyone is losing money but who is earning it. hahaha… and your answer is rel funny… Switzerland becomes richer and richer la!
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some blogs are already reporting that not all mamak reduce their price. some dont even have any idea about roti canai getting cheaper than 20 cents!!!
what i am more concern is that the govt will use this as a reason to show a much lower CPI thus affecting the increment of many modern slaves.
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Dear Lilian,
The average Malaysian does not eat roti Canai that often.
BUT
GURUJI does, Bala and Family does, and the Carpet peddler does, and that is why it is inperative for the price of ROti Canai to fall by 20 sen.
For the fall by 20sen, that would represent an actual saving of say, 15% fall in cost to feed these fellers; this fall in price will translate to more EURO$$$ for the fat mama to spend in Paris.
This figures, does it?
– Anarky