Fuel Chaos

You would have been mistaken that the petrol stations in Malaysia were having some Big Sales yesterday. Technically, maybe…but seriously, no. Unless you have been out of the country or in Mars for the last few days, you must have known that the fuel prices was increased by a whooping RM0.78 per litre at the dot of 12.00 am this morning. So, chaos reigns as Malaysian drivers hustle their way into the nearest petrol station to get their tank full.

So, Malaysian drivers, you must have been condeming the Prime Minister now. You must have thought that he is out of his mind. You must have thought that what he was doing is technically a political suicide, after a major loss in the last general election. Somewhere far in your heart, you must have thought that he was in a mission of vengence against Malaysians who turned against him in the last GE?

In the spirit of objectivity, I beg to differ. Whilst Pak Lah has made a number of questionable decisions (or rather, lack of decision) in the past, this move must have been one that I fully support, not because i”m not a driver.

See, the government can no longer afford to subsidse the fuel prices. As global fuel price soar to an all-time high of US$135, the price of fuel in Malaysia remained the same. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that this simply means that more money have to be pumped in (no pun intended) by the government in order to maintain the price. The projected amount of saving through this measure will be RM13.7 billion, and after deducting the RM5 bil to be spent on rebates, that leaves the government with RM8.7 bil.

Indeed, on the surface, it may seem that the hiking of price is unreasonable. Nevertheless, this is inevitable. The effects of fuel hike will no doubt be negative on the prices of other goods as well. I, for one, believe that the subsidy scheme should have been scrapped ages ago. It is eating into national reserves and it is creating a culture of dependence amongst Malaysians. To take a metaphor by Lord Denning in Blackburn v Attorney General, “Freedom given cannot be taken away”. “Rights” given cannot be taken away. Malaysians have treated the subsidy as a right, when it should be a privilege.

I would however reserve my judgment on how the money saved would be used. One thing I am utterly disappointed is that none of the money would be channelled towards improving the public transportation system. If the government wants Malaysians to be frugal in their fuel usage, they must do something to improve the sorry public transport that we have. Let’s all pray they do.