Posted on by Kit

Protest at unconscionable oil price increases

Ipoh, Perak

  • Venue : Perak Office of Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
    at Federal Building (opposite Dewan Bandaraya Ipoh ), Green Town, Ipoh
  • Date : Thursday, 5th June 2008
  • Time : 11am

Kuala Lumpur

  • Venue : Jalan Pasar, Pudu (indirectly opposite RHB and Am Bank)
  • Date : Thursday, 5th June 2008
  • Time : 11.30am

211 Replies to “Protest at unconscionable oil price increases”

  4. Why kind of PM is this? once again we had been stupidise by him again….remenber when he said the cabinet wont be resolved in Feb…but then he resolved the nxt day!!!! again he said only Aug will revise the petrol price and now….boooshit!!! He has lost his creditability….non of his words are true….So dont believe what he said from now….we should put him into our guiness book record of Malaysia for the most unshameful human in Malaysia!!

  10. Malaysian’s income per capita only US 4000 and buy petrol with RM 3.00 per litre compared with Singaporean income per capita US 25,000 and buy petrol with RM 5.20 per litre in their country. So government should think how to increase the people income before rising the petrol.

  13. 78 cents/litre is a huge increase. Look at the long Q at the petrol kiosks every corner, immediately after Pak Lah’s announcement. All of us can feel the burden. I doubt the people in the cabinet, what are they doing?

  14. GOVERNMENT IS NOT STUPID, OF COURSE THEY KNOW HOW TO CALCULATE AND THEY HAVE AN EXPERT INSIDE ALSO. BUT ONLY GOVERNMENT ALWAYS THINK RAKYAT IS STUPID ONLY.
    SEE HOW LONG BN CAN SURVIVE AFTERTHIS.
    THINK THEY WANT TO TRY EARTH QUAKE 10. MAGNIDUTE TO SHAKE THEM OFF

  17. Kit,

    Instead of having an ad hoc demonstration, why don’t you delay a bit to plan, gather and coordinate all the NGOs, the public, the disables, PAS, PKR, the consumers association, etc, etc, to form a mammoth rally throughout the country, not in one area, but throughout many areas simultaneously.

    That way, firstly the effect will be tremendous and secondly the PDRM will be spread thin and not able to use their brutality so effectively on the crowd like in the past!

  21. Don’t you think that it is a irresponsible act to call for a such a protest. The rise in fuel prices affect the whole wide world and not because BN or PR is in power. If we are really Malaysians, we should be aware that depleting the Government’s coffers is asking for other serious repercussions down the road such as HIGHER TAXES.

    What a good government should ensure is the reduction from fuel subsidy is better quality of life programs for all Malaysians.

    Let not protest for the sake of protesting. It is not Bangsa Malaysian.

  23. AAB thinking the rakyat would appreciate his savings from reduction of subsidy for ‘development’ WHILE many rakyats are STARVING as result from his action to increase the fuel price?

    …..still sleeping like a baby!

    2nd tsunami is coming….. It is time to change the government!

  27. Tell me when is the last time you get a raised of 40% in such a short period? I am not sure how the poor is going to survive and looks like we need to change our lifestyle drastically.

    What can we get out of protesting? The Govt is going to play a deaf ear to us. Very soon many have to survive with only 1 main meal a day, a lot of things will go up soon. It’s a Sad Day!

  29. dear “dawsheng”,

    u think the sleeping PM will listen to dialogue or read a memorandum submitted by u?? it’s time for a big protest or even stage a strike to tell him loud and clear that the rakyat are not stupid and not going to be fooled by him..

  31. Pingback: Petrol price hike, what others are saying | Malaysia Social Politics | YeinJee

  41. FUEL PRICE INCREASE AND DECREASE IS WORLDWIDE ISSUE.
    BUT TELL ALL MALAYSIAN, WHERE IS PETRONAS PROFIT INCOME YEARLY GONE ? DO THEY SPENT BENEFIT FOR RAKYAT ?
    HOW DARE THE OLD ROOT REDUCE SUBSIDISE TO 0.30 FOR PETROL

  46. Malaysia is an oil producing country and therefore when its citizens are adversely affected by its domestic fuel pricing system it suggests of a less than thorough management of its hydrocarbon asset.

    Firstly, in the context of an oil producing nation, there was no necessity then and now to term the Malaysian fuel pricing as ‘being subsidized by the government’ [ostensibly for the benefit of the rakyaat]. Simply, Malaysia is an oil producing nation, and it follows her citizens get to enjoy some benefit from a lower than world market rate fuel pricing system. Period. For a government to curry that mileage then[cheap fuel], she must also bear the burden now[higher cost of fuel].

    Secondly, hydrocarbon is but ‘black gold’, an ever diminishing natural produce, which requires million of years to form. Thus managers entrusted to maximize hydrocarbon as a national wealth should have justified their worth by providing adequate guiding wisdom to cushion the impact should hydrocarbon pricing systems break loose.

    So the question then: given a balanced management of Malaysian hydrocarbon reserves, why should the government find it necessary to quote the rising world crude oil price as the main reason for hiking up the national fuel pricing system? Shouldn’t the domestic fuel pricing system remain quite constant thru the ranges of world pricing escalation/de escalation? Is not this a straight forward case of mismatching forecasted hydrocarbon resources versus national fuel demands?

    To ever begin a cure to this national issue, the Malaysian government must admit the root cause of mismanagement, and clearly pin point where the current system has fallen tru the gaps. One strong area to analyze is the mismatch of forward and future oil contracts, its contractual obligations, and its national forecast on fuel demands.

    Embarking on a cure, the government of the day to remove any spins and honestly describe its problems and its directions for recovery. The Malaysian government can start by explaining away the word ‘subsidized’ fuel pricing.

  47. I suggest we all protest by running a long run campaign until BN bow down. Do something that the stupid PDRM is helpless to stop us.

    I saw on news that one European country, cant remember exactly which one, they all slow down their drive and make the entire traffic heading to their parliament stuck with slow moving vehicle as a sign of their dissatisfaction of fuel hike.

    lets learn and refine that idea. lets name it a “ANTI FUEL-HIKE HONK CAMPAIGN”. I suggest all drivers from ENTIRE MALAYSIA, whoever driving, be it 2 or 4 wheels, press their honk from 8 to 11 am and 5-8pm anywhere you be, esp. Parliament/KLCC/Putrajaya, on and off, until the government agrees to bow down.

  50. Protest at unconscionable oil price increase-
    Kuala Lumpur

    * Venue : Jalan Pasar, Pudu (indirectly opposite RHB and Am Bank)
    * Date : Thursday, 5th June 2008
    * Time : 11.30am
    come on guys,let’s altogether in one heart(Lim Kit Siang is calling for a protest).

  51. I shudder to think how the government would expect mamak stalls not to raise the price of roti canai or teh tarik, the coffee shops not to raise the price of teh oh or noodles, or school buses not to raise their fees, for logistics company not to raise their rates.. and at the same time refuse to let market determine the price of motor vehicles in Malaysia ala the true spirit of AFTA. How they would expect everyone to be austere except themselves when they are still lavishly jetting around or chauffeur driven in big cc cars. At 40% increase, even the price of the toilet paper will go up.

    For the rest, read http://hiroblog2007.blogspot.com/

  58. Dear wesuffer,

    Firstly, it would be very stupid of any Malaysian governments (present or future) not to sell off its resources at market rate and bring in profits to benefit the country (you and me). Malaysia is fortunate we have a commodity like oil to sell. Whatever, the Government gets have been accounted for in its budgets.

    The real question is really whether the profits distributed to the BN government have been “Competently, Accountably, & Transparently” beneficial to us and whether there could have been more profits if “cronies” contracts were weeded out?

    It is not about supporting BN or not. We need to be real about what happening outside our “tempurong”.

    As to whether BN remains or not, I believe the writings are on the wall.

    Nite.

  59. dear “dawsheng”,

    oh, i see, so this is your fear – a state of emergency..

    if u r scared, then stay at home and watch tv lo, no one forces u to come out for the protest..

    if 1000 people are protesting, the police & army can point their guns toward them..
    if 10,000 ppl protesting, armed forces can still point their weapons toward them..
    but if half of the rakyat or even > three quarters of the rakyat are protesting, who will u think those army will point their guns to?? they will turn around and point their guns toward those ppl ordering them to stop the protesters!!

  61. dear mr/miss “alternatif”

    that is what current happens.. the UMNO and Petronas are selling off “OUR PETROLEUM” at market price and then the profit went into their own pocket, without giving any single benefit to the rakyat.. i think this is what u like.. perhaps u r one of the cronies..

  67. Kit,

    The increase in petrol price is a blessing in disguise for Anwar and PR.

    Here is a little suggestion: Just wait for inflation to peak at 5 – 6% for the next 2 to 3 months until civilian anger and discontent build up. Anwar then signals disgruntled BN MPs to cross over to PR.

    PL will be trapped. Whether he dissolves Parliament to call for a fresh election or does not dissolve Parliament, PR will ultimately be the Big Winner!

  68. COOL! people PLS BE????????
    ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

  70. 1) malaysia exports sweet crude — which is trades at higher prices than the WTI crude that the news report as being USD 135 on May 22
    2) Malaysia imports sour crude from middle east, which is lower grade, due to higher sulphur contents.

    By selling 700,000 barrels of sweet crude a day and buying 600,000 barrel of sour crude for domestic consumption, Petronas is still making a huge profit. est USD 15.5m a day x 365 x 3.25 RM/USD rate, that is RM 18.4bln a year of profits. Couple that with their profitable ventures in Middle East and Africa. Not sure what the government means by subsidising too much. I bet they still rich enough to buy more submarines or send another guy to space.

    Why dont they just send PM to space, so we can have the record of world’s 1st head of state in space and oldest one maybe. that way maybe we can get rid of him once and for all.

  71. Disband the Petronas Philharmonic Orchestra, since it is costing the country too much, having to pay fat gaji all those foreign musicians which are most unnecessary since it does not make sense and there’s no Malaysian identity. Local musicians I am sure are prepared to get paid half their salaries, if given the opportunity.

    Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called for Malaysians to change lifestyles, to tighten our belts, jimat etc. What about starting from the top Mr PM?

    It’s time he starts taking economy class on commercial flights if he needs to travel overseas on official duties, a fine example set by Pakatan Rakyat’s Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng – to lead by example from the top!

    PM Abdullah and his BN/UMNO Cabinet Ministers should also stop making unnecessary overseas trip at the expense of tax-payers money.

    Should they see a need to bring their spouses along to accompany them on “official trips”, then do so at their own expense. Their spouses should rightly pay for their own trips, space and food.

    Do not expect our Embassies and Consulates overseas to entertain their spouses with karoke or spend time accompany their spouses shopping.

    Please walk the talk Mr Prime Minister, so much can be saved.

  73. This is the signal for MPs from Sabah and Sarawak to rise to the occasion and crossover to the Pakatan Rakyat, and in doing so will put an end to BN/UMNO reign in the country.

    Enough is enough. When will the ever increasing of essentials goods be put to a stop. Will we ever learn that increase in price of petrol and diesel will definitely lead to increase in other goods and services in the country.

    It is not good enough to make comparison that the price of petrol and diesel are comparatively cheaper than those countries in the region. Why mentioned Cambodia and Laos in particular – do these two countries produce petroleum. And don’t ever compare with Singapore. Yes they are more expensive than us, but their standard of living are higher than us, and the increase does not cause misery like what we have to face.

    It is sickening to watch Abdullah making statements and asking the people to change life style and to be patience and to accept the increase of petrol and diesel as a global phenomena. The announcement of the increase of petrol and diesel is the highest ever in the Malaysian history. He had set a trend that increase of petroleum is getting higher and higher.

    To all the Pakatan Rakyat leaders get down to business, and start putting words into actions. Surely when Anwar said that he has the numbers of MPs expected to crossover, other top leaders must have been told who those MPs are. Please do not wait even a minute longer as we have enough of BN/UMNO nonsense.

    Anwar, the least you could do for the country, after Pakatan taking over the administration of this country, is to maintain the present price of petrol in order that side effects of the increase of petrol and diesel cannot be avoided at all costs.

  74. PLS cool down guys! by increasing our patrol price, our PM encourage the people to walk or cycling to work, so do more excercise mah.so he wont found so many obese people in our cabinet(ministers)so dont play play, what a great idea, must put his name in our Malaysia GENIUS books of record! HAHA!

  75. Expect fresh street protests – Jun 4, 08 9:23pm:
    “Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is wishing that there will not be another round of public protests following the largest increase of fuel prices in history today.”
    What if the plot is otherwise?
    Think about it, why this timing?
    Act of desperation? Danger ahead?

  76. Thanks to simple Malaysian who voted parti Barang Naik. Now those simple Malaysian have to enjoy all the benefit of price increases.

    M’sian are rich ppl.
    Our national is expensive, they are willing to sell foreigner cheaper car.
    Our reclaimed land are privatize not for our people but for foreigner.
    Other country standard of living improve follow by increase of cost of living like Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Japan.
    Malaysia is the only typical country where the standard of living remain constant but cost of living is almost the same as developed country.
    Not sure whether parti Barang Naik wanted to chase all breathing Malaysian out from Malaysia?

  77. I mean our national car is very expensive compare to country that produces national car like South Korea.

    Our petrol is so high compare to other country like Egypt that produces oil.

    Our electricity is so high consider the fact TNB is earning so much from the people. Shame on the goons, their agenda are suppose to bring basic infrastructure to rakyat not robe from rakyat.

    Is Malaysian rich or stupid to get robe by parti Barang naik.

    Singapore also having inflation now, but look at their quality, their leader is strong, their leader foresight has enabled Singapore to prepared themselves from these agony Malaysian are facing today.

    Senior Lee must be laughing now, look at how our leader plan and spoil a good country rich in resources without any foresight and planning ahead, and the people, Malaysian are so dumb, just continue get robe by parti Barang Naik.

    With these increases tomorrow, all products will rise, due to increase in freight cost.

    Long time ago, our technology not so advance we produce less, but now we produce more but the cost is so much higher than long time ago. Why? is it due to corruption, the leader siphoning the wealth which is suppose to distribute to the people, and abusing the soft loan from international funds association and concession.

    All these leaders are Billionaires, while the rakyat having a difficult time to struggle to make ends meet. What is this the leader said, we can’t satisfy everyone? at least keep the petrol low and electricity low, hello u r the big brother, providing basic necessities like electricity and petrol are ur duty. Well, these leader are running away, they siphoned all the wealth, suck it dry, now it is payback time when the country has no money, and very soon he just quit his position and migrate to Switzerland, saying “Sayonara” Stupid Malaysian.

    Who will be the next Prime Minister to reform the whole mess, high debts, high inflation, and “duit susu” oso dun have, our leader telling us to “ubah gaya hidup” even bicycle is costing more now, there is no basic infrastructure for ppl. to move around to go to work, there is no subway, no train, no bus route to industrial zone.

    They are liars, liars, liars

  78. “if 10,000 ppl protesting, armed forces can still point their weapons toward them..
    but if half of the rakyat or even > three quarters of the rakyat are protesting, who will u think those army will point their guns to?? they will turn around and point their guns toward those ppl ordering them to stop the protesters!!” – Xiao He

    Reminiscent of the last Shah of Iran.
    That’s how he fell.
    He had “solid” armed forces backing but when the protesters included relatives and friends of the soldiers, the latter refused to shoot.
    End of story for the SHAH!

  79. Only Tun Dr. M can compete with Senior Lee, but this time really “Sampai Duri dalam daging terkeluar” Forget abt. how Tun siphoned the money, but really, i would prefer Tun to siphon as much wealth as possible as long as we are still enjoying a lower petrol price, and lower energy tariff. I don’t really bothered how much Tun Dr. M siphoned as long as ppl. still enjoy cheaper cost of living. Now is worst both, siphoning and robing from people.

    What rakyat can do? wat PR can do? nothing right. Just keep our big mouth shut and have a good sleep, tomorrow wake up is another day, right?

  81. Protesting is of no use, even today DSAI “buang kerajaan” it is just an empty nest, he still need ample of time to regain Malaysia international reputation.

    They’ve siphoned so much out and that Taib expertise is required as his connection is wider pertaining to faster way to siphon country wealth as much as possible. Also they’ve anticipated losing the goons, it is good time to turn the gun on the Rakyat, becos Malaysian are very obedient, and cincai.

  83. The parti Barang Naik has made too much stupid error like the Motorola scandal in Penang.

    They never think of the consequences simply signed MOU with China selling its own oil worth billionth. Well, they care abt. the oil commissions inside the pocket is warm.

    They then buying from other country to replenish the local demand.

    With these, every rakyat pocket will burn a hole not only from fuel and energy cost, but other daily product as well.

    Our income are stagnant, already not many foreigner investor interested to come Malaysia to invest due to political unstable, the parti Barang Naik leadership is bad, arrogant, bad manners, stinks, and mistreat the PR, the people, the politician who go against it thru ISA, and many more.

    Who the hell interested to invest in Malaysia, the leadership so lousy, and sleepy. Still Singapore, India or China is the best for investor not because they are giant it is because their leader are good in managing and regulating the country for the welfare of the people, also they are bless with huge potential market.

    The cost of living in China is much higher than Malaysia, many Malaysian still working in Felda and factory.

  84. wanna blame. we should start blame the 15 years ago government , they waste alots of money to transportation system.
    what the hell our public bus ,create lrt system,ktm. all inconvinient to user.
    and they encourage everyone own a car. 15 years later ,now they said government have to subsidy each car how much. bla bla.
    what the bloody hell the unpopular PM

  87. Saturday May 31, 2008
    Najib quashes talk of petrol price increase
    <>

    Wednesday February 13, 2008
    Parliament won’t be dissolved today, says PM
    <>

    in both cases, both DPM and PM blatantly lied to Malaysians on impending issues. Honestly BN, we do not like negative surprises. All these surprises bring significant losses to the Malaysian economy. How do you think the foreign investors now view Malaysia? there is no stability, assurances from highest ranking officers not worth anything. No wonder Thailand is the chosen hub for car assembly plants, Toyota, Honda.. Our government can’t even give its population a sense of security, how do you expect foreign investors to invest billions into Malaysia?

  89. This is not a good government, and neither a smart government, they want to see people queueing at petrol stations, while they already know the increase and planned for it, and will be enjoying it, the question is, why now? why this much?

  91. “15 years ago government ”

    Tun Dr. M managing it for 22 yrs, his regime bring alot of tears after he step down. Thanks god, he’s out from UMNO, he is a brave leader who made the right decision.

    Whoever still in UMNO should be ashamed of themselves of selling the people rights & priviledge as a Malaysian.

    That lil amphibian E man jump back in wanted to help PL to slaughter the Rakyat further, what a mess, is Malaysian lack of Malay talent after Tun?

  93. When Tun left the administration he left some pocket money for them, soon after the new party took over, it has turn Barisan Nasional to Barang Naik.

    Scrap every project which can bring beneficial to the rakyat, worst is after scrapping enrich their own pocket as those concession are owned by their cronies.

    The new Barang Naik administration also lack transparency with the help of OSA and many more legal loopholes managed to generate lots of wealth and secret trading e.g. Grandsaga dilemma. The pig project, shukoi jet & submarines, National Service project (Children torture chamber, it is a chamber to kill weak childrens), increase in tolls, and Rapid KL/Penang, Air Asia, MAS subsidies, Bakun project.

  94. Within Barisan Nasional all break loose and become little Napolean forgetting their roots. MCA going their leader agenda “PKFZ”, MIC going Sammy way “MAIKA”, and UNO PL “SCOMI” “KJ” “Deros” going his own way.

  95. No point striking/protesting for lower fuel cost. The government should be pushed for more efficient public transport for long term economy goal. We shouldn’t start as car maker and PLUS project in 80’s. Should go for efficient public transport in city and intercity train. Channel the oil export fund of better education and medical/old folks welfare. Make sure all four basic element(cloth, food, accommodation and transport) of standard living is covered before moving towards another goal in enriching the nation’s mind. That is how a nation should prosper. Wake up Malaysian, low fuel cost age is over! Everything will deprive but not knowledge, it stays with the nation. Do no dwell on low cost fuel anymore. Adapt to the global environment.

  96. QUESTION: How can a government have a conscience if it is BRAIN DEAD!

    Unconscionable presumes too the presence of a conscience, right? Or a sense of morality. This government has neither. Never had, never will.

  100. Please take this question seriously. Why the Gulf countries are not selling their gasoline at market price to their consumers; whether local or expatriates?

    Secondly, Uncle Kit, have you ever ask whether there is some local controlled cartel that is controlling the sales of the Petronas oil? Are some politically aligned companies binding Petronas and further gaining from the global crude craze? Please investigate further. We are going down the drain with this hike.

  101. Those support BN are definate morons!!! See what have they did now! Can wait to slap them on their face to wake up…

    Now everything will increase definately, bukan sahaja makan ubi sekarang orang miskin kenalah nak makan pasir already..

    Earthquake 10magnitude to shake off BN from Parliament immediately…

    Now Malaysian are crying if God have eyes ..

  102. OHHHH my god i dunt believe our PM i so blind or deaf is he really awake or still dreaming.Cant he see citizen in Malaysia are suffering to earn a leaving.I dunt understand what is the purpose of banning Thais and Singapore people to refuel oil when the price is not much different.Is he taking us at a fool im really fed up with the current government.Seriously i respect a robber more that our current so called ministers.When a robber rob a bank he use his life to fight for the money.Unlike our ministers robing our citizen money like no one business.For me they are worse than robber or theft.Because what they do they dunt have to pay the penalty.But if our minister get caught he will said it looks like me it sounds like me but it is not me.Come on okay nowadays no matter you are Malay,Chinese ,Indian etc we are not a stupid and please dunt treat us like a donkey or fool.
    When a time comes people cant effort to buy their basic food etc there will be chaos.I hope that those who create this trouble will face the consequences.Even now Thai Bhat is stronger than Msia what do they produce other than plantation and you know what.Yet their money is stronger than us.Im ashame to hear this an independent country like us with so much resource is worse than Thai can you imagine that.Im just graduating and plan to buy a a car but after this matter will i still stick to my old HONDA EX 5.Those who are corrupted should be punish and all their asset should be confiscated just like what Thai PM do to those drug lord.Look at their economy it is getting better day by day but our country i have no word to describe my disappointment.Some times when i visit to thai i feel much more ashame than them a country with full of resource is worse than ….. country.When im in secondary school im so proud and lucky to be a Msian but after what has happened it really sadend me .I feel that the PM should learn more Morale subject what is called jujur and ikhlas .I wonder which stupid will vote for BN unless they have a share.Though i cant get to enter to local U luckily my aunt from Eng help me lot if i can work there i wont come back to this country im very sad what has happened the cost of leaving is already so high.Dunt said the poor even the middle class can feel the pain unlike those who are in the crony of you know who…..sign

  103. Licensed robbers – BN! Think of the consequences of such ridiculous hike in petrol prices! I think AAB is going for his “last straw” by making this move. He is thinking, “since I am going soon, might as well reap my last harvest! After all BN is not so popular at the last GE. Might as well let PR take over but before that, let me grab a bit of the country’s riches!”

    Such mentality is very irresponsible by AAB as PM of Malaysia. He is just digging his own grave at a faster rate!

  104. All this is Punishment for not supporting FREEDOM of Religion, Freedom from Racism and FREEDOM of Press & ISA…..

    Malays really now need to think of how many kids they want to have……learn Birth control fast, “Billing method”……For the sake of Political power you increase your racial mix % now you pay with something that will UMNO/PAS promoted…..NEP…etc. Somethings will haunt you 20 years later……the non-malays are still suffering from generational missed opportunity. Petrol or food and neglect child brain development…….what is the value of Ketuanan Melayu…now that you realised that it was stolen from Orang Asli.?? Orang Asli have NO Issues with this Fuel Hike….think about it!

    With all the profit UMNO-BN have not improved the public transport infrastructure….yet they strenghten themselves with Corruption money….UMNO-BN will DIE defending it. I sense ISA coming …… in the name of National security…….

  105. Remember only a few weeks ago Mahathiu took the Petronas corporate jet to fly to Narita and talked bad about Malaysia?

    Do you know how much it costs our hard earned money on such stupid trip on fuel, landing fee at Narita, parking fees at Narita and other maintenance fees at Narita?

    And Mahathiu was at Tokyo to spoil Malaysia’s reputation!

    Go to hell Mahathiu!
    Petronas money is our very money!

  106. 40% & 64% percent increase in pump petrol price & diesel price respectively and 20% rise in Electricity Tariffs with cost-push inflationary & knock-on effect of increasing prices of all kinds of goods & services across the board is double or triple whammy on the people whose wrath will be directed straightaway at the government. The fact that it is necessitated by surging cost of oil (no thanks to oil futures by derivative speculators) is not going to appease Malaysians used to subsidies, reliant on cars because of unsatisfactory public transportation. The need to wean Malaysians from our umbilical cord to subsidies (that suposedly favour the rich with their guzzlers of 2000 cc or more ), to make prices more in line with market conditions, though not wrong strictly by themselves, is wrong against the overall larger picture as perceived by rakyat that taxes from Petronas’ bumber profits, monies from the very high excise & custom duties, road taxes on cars and tolls (all making unit cost per driver high) are appropriated and used/frittered for other purposes beneficial to ruling elites & their cronies….

    India increased petrol prices by 11%, diesel by 9.4%, Taiwan by 16%, Indonesia by 30%, how did we come out (what’s basis of computation) with a magic figure of 40% & 64% increase in pump petrol price & diesel price when we’re a net exporter of oil benefiting from surge in oil prices? Already before the cut subsidies, Govt has suffered a vote of no confidence on March 8th this year. Now is not just price spiral in goods & services, but, in context of looming economic crisis and hardship caused in no small way by external world conditions, a spiral of expected street protests ands unrests will be generated, then police counteraction, more bloodied nose and fractured limbs on streets that will cause govt’s standing to plummet further. No one believes official figures of 5% inflation, many would think of 10% or more, and now this! It is a serious political misjudgment on the part of present administration that will face the consequences.

  107. I kind of suspect Petronas coffer could be dried by now else Bodowi and cronies would not do such suicidious act!

    Petronas book is never open to public, unlike all public listed company. Petronas must have raped by UMO and cronies all this year and it must be near bankrupt now!

  108. Folks: It is likely that the government treasury is now empty, or they would not have resorted to this grossly unpopular measure. With Bodohwi having increased civil service pay by RM8 billion a year, with the billions in government expenditure for various Corridors, with states now demanding for greater petroleum royalty – these thieves are finding their coffers empty.

    They would rather stop development projects like 2nd Penang bridge or KTM double tracking or Klang Valley LRT extension – they have no money.

    Yet they allow BN cronies to rack up huge debts without any financial repercussion – Perwaja continues to owe TNB billions, AirAsia owes Petronas and MAHB hundreds of millions and Naza owes hundreds of millions to Treasury in unpaid import duties. The politically connected get away scot-free, the poor have nowhere to run.

    Such is the wasteful mentality of this Barang Naik government that has brought Bolehland to its knees.

    CEMERLANG, GEMILANG, TEMBERANG !!!

  109. To digress a little, these idiots don’t even use the time-tested tradition of announcing the price increase close to midnight so that there is no stampede. What we witnessed last night was shameful, with disorderly lines, blocking of roads, individuals carrying plastic containers to fill up.

    The word is that Bodohwi couldn’t wait till close to midnight to make the announcement because he had to sleep early.

  110. Those who voted for BN in the recent election must be “banging their balls now! That is the gratitude they get for casting their votes for such a useless, ungrateful and irresponsible government! Let this be a lesson to all Malaysians, don’t fall for the tricks and sweet talk of BN in future! Today, you get a taste of the medicine you brew on March 8 2008!

  111. I suggest you guys cycle to work. It is after all environmental friendly. We used to cycle to get from point A to point B during our early years. Why can’t we do the same? That would make us less dependent on oil.

    It is time.

  112. Pingback: What goes up and never comes down? « * SUSAN LOONE’s blog *

  113. Though I’m anti-BN but I would like hear YB Lim Kiat Siang the reason for the government should subsidize the oil. Due the huge increase of the oil price, it is a huge burden for the government to continue subsidize the oil. Furthermore, I strongly believe in free market so this is a good move for us to control the demand of the oil at home.

    Could YB provide us the solution to solve high oil cost?

    My solution:
    1. Improve public transportation.
    2. Increase road safety for motorcycle and this will indirectly increase more motorcycle users which uses less oil.
    3. Proton should heavily invest on Hybrid or electric car R&D.

  115. “we are 1 of the oil exporter/producer in SEA?”

    Unfortunately among the SEA we have one of the weakest leader who failed in simple mathematics.

    They also create alot of discontent with neighbor countries

    Indonesia – Plan to cut down by implementing quota
    Singapore & Thailand – Ban visitor to pump our country petrol
    Singapore – Disputing some small island

    Malaysia can only prosper if the parti Barang Naik is eliminated. Surprisingly simple Malaysian are rich, luckily i lived in opposition state, i’m not stupid and rich to support the Barang Naik party and its leader. We should throw egg at them for mismanaging the country funds.

    How party Barang Naik torture Malaysian
    1) Implementing NS camp without providing quality & adequate medical support, we’ve many cases of children dying.
    2) Our national car cost more to all national but in foreigner country, the car is relatively cheaper compare we buy it locally
    3) Our petrol has been sold to other country thru OSA contracts the bounty of commissions are been channelled out from the country. There is no longer petrol for Malaysian, as we’ve to bear the cost.
    4) Our govt. kill the childrens by robing milk money from each family, setting up tolls, increasing energy cost further while TNB is earning good profit, and ultimately rise cost of living.
    5) All the transportation are managed by Barisan Naik relatives or cronies e.g. Rapid KL, Rapid Penang, Scomi LRT, Air Asia
    6) Our govt. abuse of power allowing and tolerating mountain of debt. for its cronies company like AirAsia who owes Petronas and MAHB hundreds of millions and Naza owes hundreds of millions to Treasury in unpaid import duties.
    7) To solve all these, the simple majority, simple mind leader, jus made a simple solution, that is to simply increase the fuel price and energy tariff without considering the difficulties of the Rakyat.

    Thank you simple Malaysian for voting your future, your saving, your children, it is time to migrate to Singapore and overseas, there is no hope in Bolehland as our country coffer are dry now with these monkeys in the administration.

  116. All of you who are complaining, think of BN’s stupid, lying words: Malaysian inflation is only 3.5% or something like that!

    No wonder, Pak Lah failed his Statistics!

    The next stupid thing BN will say is: No one is supposed to increase prices – not the hawker, not the taxi driver, not the newspaper vendor, not the bus company….and also, not the chicken seller. Chickens don’t drink petrol! That’s the level of stupidity of Pak Lah’s BN.

    And, oh, Pak Lah should call for a snap election now and prove whether the people love him or hate him.

  119. We do have a FREE source of energy but it’s just that we are so used to the oil subsidies and too comfortable with our lifestyle and so easily duped by the government with all the feel-good propaganda that we had taken everything for granted.

    And what is that FREE source of energy that I am talking about?….It’s the SUN (no! not the newspaper but the hot one up in the sky that we get for almost half the day. If you ask me, that’s a mighty lot of energy there just going to waste).

    Solar-powered cars may not be here yet but solar panels are. And if we harness that power and channel it to our homes, that is one small step but one giant leap into utilizing solar power ….and maybe, just maybe, we won’t have that many IPP’s.

    But is the BN government promoting the usage of solar-power? Have they done any research into that? So we have a ‘not-too-bright’ government but are WE not-too-bright too?

    Having said that, let’s have a show of People Power and i suggest that we ALL set aside a day or a few hours to SWITCH OFF to show that we are TURN OFF by this petrol increase!

    Switch off ALL electrical appliances in our house, office or where-ever and stop driving our vehicles whether it happens to be at home or on the road.

    Better still, coincide this protest with any major international event that is held here to show the world that we are turned off by this government.

  120. Those who are not in Ipoh and KL, do not organise demonstration! Don’t fall in to their trap! THis will give BN to declare emergency! This is their plot to take away what PR had achived! To keep their corrupted power. Just drive as slow as possible to paralyse the traffic untill they back down! You will save petrol ($$), and the force can’t do anything to you! Coz you drive slow to save $$!

  123. WAHLAU EH!!!!!!!!!!…RM625 for us by end of every road tax renew???Come on……BEGGER CASE AH!!!!!!
    WHY NOT PROTEST IN PENANG!!!?????!!!
    CHANGE GOVT AND SEE WHAT CAN WE HAVE PLEASE!!!!!

  124. Firstly, we can only blame the price hike on the market demand. The prices are high due to demand. Though we’re oil producer, we’re not the main world oil producer. We can only blame the government for poor planning on public transportation system. Also, due the government corruption we lost all the money. Therefore, we don’t have money to subsidize the oil or improve the public transportation.

    I would really like to hear DAP or Pakatan Rakyat on solving this global fuel hike. Hence, I would to challange DAP to give a solid solution on solving it rather than just protest.

  127. “oh, i see, so this is your fear – a state of emergency..” – Xiao He

    It is not about fear but about strategy. What did Abdullah expects? Demonstration right? Typical of opposition party. How many times can you demonstrate and what are the chances of overcome the price increase decision by demonstrating unless the BN government is paralyzed by it.

  128. Cash rebate RM625??
    It work out to RM52.08 per month.
    Imagine we have to fork out additional RM200 every month!!!

    Change the government!!!
    Call for snap election now!!
    Sell off your private jet!!!
    Follow LGE of helping the nation save $$$$$$$$!

  129. I think we should think through this carefully. Those who are blaming the present administration are barking up the wrong the trees and blaming the wrong people. Think.

    Who is responsible for the present mess? Think. Who instituted the fuel subsidies in the first place? Think. Who inititiated the Proton project and the car industry when Malaysia had/has no competitive and comparative advantages in the car industry? Think.

    Why Proton and the car industry is to be blamed? Because in order to make it a “success”, the prices of local cars were/are artificially kept low so that more people can afford to buy them. In other words, many who shouldn’t be buying cars bought them. And to make it even more viable to buy cars, petrol and diesel are subsidized heavily.

    Be fair people. Who is to be blamed?

  130. Downgrading the citizen living style but upgrade themselves with latest and most expensive things, the leaders are sucks in either way…but that’s the culture for malaysia

    “if you don’t like it, get out from malaysia”..sounds familiar isn’t it

  131. Concerned Malaysians Says:
    Today at 08: 20.23 (8 minutes ago)

    “WE DESPERATELY NEED TO HAVE NEW GOVERNMENT!!!”
    —————————————————————–

    NEW GOVERNMENT YES!!! But wait until inflation flare up in 2 – 3 months time and when the rakyat get mad with price increases of all things. That is the right time for BN MPs to cross over to PR. Even if Pak Lah then dissolves Parliament to call for a fresh election to save UMNO, PR will still “win big”. So much the better if Pak Lah does not call for a new election – PR will take over Federal Government right away.

  133. AAB’s mentality work like my X-boss.
    Also a Penang-borned guy.
    He makes profit by squeezing every staffs under him…internally.
    No bonus,no benefits….
    He would boast and show-off that he is the most intelligent boss in the world and think he is always doing the right thing.
    At the end of the day….he is SACKED!!!

    Do you know why???
    Because he NEVER bring in enough revenue to support the company!!!He will stay in the office and never leave office looking for business.
    He thinks he is the sherpard and we are the goats and cows.
    The staffs complained and highlight to our CEO.
    The people’s power!!!!

    Similarly, it could happen to AAB as he is too concentrating domestically rather than going all-out externally to push up the economic.He is waiting to be PUSH-OUT!!!!

  134. Someone take a calculator and do some math. According to the announcement, the govt will save RM15 billion but my calculation shows there is at least RM25billion savings assuming consumption does not drop drastically. There are some funny numbers going around here.

  135. WE ALLOWED HIM TO BE THE PM AND FINANCE MINISTER,HE IS TRYING HIS LEVEL BEST TO OVERCOME PETROL SUBSIDIES/PRICE HIKE PROBLEM,THIS IS WITHIN HIS CAPABILITY!

    DUN EXPECT AN JACK OF ALL SPORTS,EXPERT OF NON TO PERFORM,WE ARE EATING OURSELVES,WE DESERVED IT!

    HE DOESNT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ECONOMY,WHAT A BIGGEST JOKE ON EARTH AND YET HE HOLDS THE MONEY!

    WHEN WE ARE ON-BOARD,IT DOESNT MATTER MAS OR AIRASIA,AT LEAST 80-90% OCCUPANCIES (AIRASIA IS 99%!),THIS IS ECONOMY,BUT WHEN HE FLIES ON HIS OWN AIRCRAFT,SAME CONSUMPTION,IT MERELY CARRIES FEW PPL,AND THIS IS REVERSED-ECONOMY,ESPECIALLY AT THESE VERY MOMENTS!

    IF A DONKEY CAN BE A KING OF A JUNGLE,DOOMED DAYS ARE NUMBERED!

  137. We like to blame Pak Lah…the real Culprit is that Racist Tun and Corrupt UMNO -BN ministers…..Its UMNO at the end of the day.
    Their Progress and infrastructure Fruits of labour are tested by Fire now in the form of Global Inflation yet within a CREDIT Squeeze…..It gets worst whoever the leader of Malaysia….because we have not Obliterated UMNO-BN sooner…like in 1969

    They will defend their wealth no matter what and is RAKYAT Mind Set Ready for the “Whateve it takes” clause??….

  139. I am now the most frustrated Malaysian living in Malaysia.
    With AAB administration, the cost of living will spiral up indefinitely.
    My income show no sign of improvement for this year. My boss will take advantage of this situation because the government has given them the GREENLIGHT to do so.

    Will the petrol increase has great impact to AAB and his government????
    He has every reason to smile and sleep well.Play golf weekly…. because he is getting every free and fully-paid by taxpayer like us.

    Will Anwar counter-attack the price hike???
    Will he reverse the current price to RM1.92 or below???

    Hmmm….I think he can do it afterall he had set an example to Sabah.

  140. Sorry, guys!
    In Miri, the petrol should be free or 1 sen per litre for everyone
    In other part of Sarawak, it should be 1 ringgit per litre
    In West Malaysia, it should be 5 ringgit per litre

  141. Malaysia is an oil producing country. It exports more than it imports in terms of value as its oil is sulphur free which commands a higher price. What is the stupid pm talking about the rising world market price. It benefits Petronas and the country. When oil price increases Petronas makes more profit and pay more taxes to the government. The subsidy is therefore not a problem. Many of the government projects are wasteful eg the so called national service which is a death trap for youngsters. The next session is due to begin on 16th June 2008. All responsible parents should boycott this programme. The 2nd finance minister is talking rubbish when his says that the current increase in fuel prices will lead to efficiency. The domestic trade minister is even worst when he say that the current price increase in fuel will not affect the prices of consumer goods.

  144. BLOOD SUCKING BARANG NAIK GOVERNMENT!

    I agree with caishen, instead of so-called AAB style of “saving” by cutting the existing subsidies again and again. why not work harder to save the government operating cost. i am sure plenty of billion can be saved if they want to! cut or on hold mega and useless projects at the moment. CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT OFFICERS BOSSY LIFE STYLE first before asking the people to change our life style! T N S….

  145. Sdr LKS,
    Thinking back,we should not just ‘duduk diam-diam’ and let him do what he want.
    We should continue protesting until the next election comes.
    If not, Malaysian has great tendency to becoming a ‘Pelupa like DRM’

    This is another opportunity for PR to touch the heart of Rakyat now.
    Since 5 states already in hand, how about adding another state or more?? Johor the new target?? The Johorean will lovin’ it.

  146. I would not join any protest against higher fuel prices but of course it is a rallying point that the ordinary folks can identify with.

    Even a PR government will have to raise oil prices when it comes into power so do you also protest then?

    We should unify under other important issues like:
    IPCMC and the government’s failure to launch
    The AG’s inaction against major corruption cases(open and shut tightly?)
    Leakages in the mega-projects
    Granting of the licence to print money via APs and other monopolies to cronies.

    This type of protest can easily escalate into mob violence (it only takes a few from either side) and the government can declare an emergency and suspend Parliament.
    Maybe that is the grand scheme of things?
    http://malaysiawatch3.blogspot.com/2008/06/bitter-medicine-to-swallow-but-major.html

  147. This is a complete scandal. The government now is cheating the people of Malaysia with eyes open and spit on your face! The hike of petrol due to raw petroleum price is understandable but one fine move would be at least let the people prepare. Increase RM0.30 or something is acceptable but RM0.70 is too much, furthermore the people is not ready for such big flop!

    Last night the situation is worst as the government only announce it 5pm in the evening, creating havoc and jam nationwide, why can’t they announce at least some time earlier? Are they happy to see that?

    Those rebate worth nothing as the cost of electricity and chain reaction of food and others is not enough. Reimbursement of RM6xx for owners under 2000 c.c. of cars is simply not enough, does anyone only spent RM600 per year on petrol especially with this new price? I doubt that.

  148. After buying votes using YOUR money during the election, BN has to pay back using YOUR money again. YOUR money cannot be used to subsidise the petrol, but to pay for the debt of his cronies. MCA, MIC, Gerakan, SUPP,…. all cannot say anything to the big brother UMNO

  149. Pingback: Suara KeADILan Online » Protes minyak di KL dan Ipoh pagi ini

  150. I for one do not support subsidies as this create an inefficient economy. The government’s measure is hugely unpopular, but cheap fuel in this day and age only encourages wasteful consumption of a dwindling resource. Look at what the Americans were doing before expensive oil became a way of life: big cars, big SUVs and trucks; poor use of public transportation. Compare that to the Europeans who have always lived with high fuel prices. We have to take the bitter pill sooner or later and better sooner than later.
    Some North sea oil producing nations are net exporters of oil but domestic fuel is heavily taxed on top of paying market price.
    Market forces will force people to use public transport; and if the government do not try to over-regulate this sector, it will see rapid growth to meet the demand.

  151. Instead of complaining until the cow come home why not think of a way to solve this problem.

    Our country is rich in natural resources and with our temperate climate, can sustain vegetations and farming all year long.

    30 years ago, I learnt about tenaga suria, dynamo, etc but till now, we didn’t see much development on this natural resources, only people lamenting our oil will habis by the year 2012.

    The Suria 1000 program is laudable. But we want more than this. Can the government be more COMMITTED. We can’t rely on the gwai lo’s technology solely, which is not only expensive but does not suit us. We have many bright Malaysians who unfortunately ignored by our own beloved country. Why not organise competition – e.g. create effective solar/dynamo powered engine that can be used on cars and motor??

    Like this, we not only develop interests in science, we also produce more thinking intelect and can draw bright people, incl Malaysians home.

    By that time, we can be proud to be Malaysians !!!

  152. I also don’t understand why we are lacking of rice.

    Abdullah please advice people to eat less, may be half our current diet. Many of us are too fat and over-weight. For our health, it is nice to suggest the people to eat less.

    We are lacking of food yet we have plenty of land. Simply the people are too lazy to work hard. Instead of sitting in front of the computer here and talking nonsense, why not give us some land and let us plant the padi.

    There are so many gangsters handing around in the towns. Please send them to plant padi.

  153. Pingback: Jason Tan » Protest at unconscionable oil price increases

  154. “Negara di bawah tempurung” best described for Malaysia.
    The Government take advantage against the Rakyat.So are the neigbouring countries who think Malaysian are naive and easily corrupted.
    The Rakyat pay the price for the generosity and kindness shown.

  155. i think most malaysian are stupid enough …

    (1) when toll prise increased, sammi biru is blamed
    – do u think sammi biru have the full authority to decide whether to increase toll price?

    (2) when oil price increased, abdullah is blamed
    – do u think with the soft character of abdullah, he can make this decision by himself?

    then what is the cause? if you are malaysian, and u do not know the cause, then u better go jump longkang lah …

    the cause is as simple as BN equal to UMNO … any policies that carried out is to protect the interest of UMNO, not the country or rakyat …

    and MIC, MCA and Gerakan is stupid enough to become a quiet dog as followers (eg: sammi vellu as minister of work, his job is to announce the toll price increas. He is not the one to have the decision, but his job is to announce … then pity him being scolded like ma even his family)

    to have a better malaysia, u have no choice other than eliminate BN from governing the country. When BN fall, mean UMNO fall …

    as simple as that, i think u all no brain one …

  156. It was the Government fault of even subsidizing in the beginning! Now they are paying the price for their stupidity.

    Without subsidy, this wouldn’t have happened today….because none of us will be asking for it or complaining about it…Though M’sia still pay considerably less than market price, the sudden jump of price will give a lot of pressure to lower & mid income families….Somemore, no warnings were given!! How do they expect the people to set out budgets for it?? Income for the people has not improved, but costs is increasing due to market price!

    BN Govt has no one to blame, not even the market but themselves because it’s their own stupidity. The subsidy should have been taken away slowly over the years. Now, almost all M’sians are too dependent on subsidies from Govt! How can we grow?!

    YB, what would your actions be?

  157. Sabahan & Sarawakian MPs still tidur bersama PM…!

    wake-up lah…!
    you’ve been supporting BN and its cronies to make more $$$ out from your BLOODY MOTHERLAND…!

    and now you’ve to pay more caused by your Denial Syndrome…!

  158. PM wants us to change our life style. OK?

    Can he also tell us how he and his Ministers intend to do that too.
    How much does it cost to upkeep his mansion at Putra Jaya and his executive jet?
    Will Minister travel around with 20 outriders and police cars to drink expensive petrol?
    Will government cars be used for private purposes?
    For heavens sake, stop being extravagant.

  160. “How can we grow?”

    Malaysia is a rich countries, you don’t quite often find little childrens begging for food & money like India, Vietnam and some of the third world country. Our politicians are spoilt, abusing legal loopholes e.g. OSA to prevent transparency in funds transaction, illegal contracts and many more plan to extort from the rich nation. We, Malaysian are a rich nation but poor leader and their poor management bring us all to knees.

    We are rich nation,
    Our nation bought inferior national car made from milo tin more expensive than any developed countries
    We are kind enough to let foreigner buy our reclaimed land, and buy our product cheaper.
    Our leader who govern the countries are not willing or not capable to manage the wealth generate from our natural oil field.
    All our national project managed by Malay owed hefty debts to the Barang Naik goons. Soon it will become a bad debts when DSAI admin take over. The cycle will begin again if the coffer is empty, people is the best source of income.

  161. from Malaysiakini:
    Oil price hike: An economically-necessary move
    Ong Kian Ming and Oon Yeoh | Jun 5, 08 10:39am
    The public outcry over the hike in petrol prices from RM1.92 per liter to RM2.70 per liter, an increase of 40%, has already begun. It won’t be too long before the long queues last night for a last taste of RM1.92 petrol translates into street demonstrations.

    MCPX
    While we expect the opposition to fully capitalise on this issue, we actually support Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s decision to reduce oil subsidies, an economically-necessary move.

    Even with the price hike, petrol in Malaysia is still comparatively cheap. Petrol in the United States, an oil producer, costs between RM3.50 and RM4.00. In Singapore, it’s more than RM4 liter and in many European countries it’s well above RM5 per liter.

    Decreasing these subsidies is part of a larger move towards removing distortions from the economy. It allows the government to shift expenditure from petrol to other areas which can bring long-term benefits such as improving schools and public infrastructure.

    Having a cap on petrol prices was sustainable when the price of a barrel of oil was at the US$20 mark. Now that the price of a barrel of oil is almost touching US$140, the oil subsidies would have eaten up almost a third of the national budget and was projected to cost somewhere between RM50 to RM60 billion (including foregone taxes) this year if prices had remained the same.

    It’s understandable why many people feel petrol prices should be lower given that we are a net oil exporting country. However, there are economically-sound reasons why the oil subsidies cannot be fully borne by Petronas.

    Half of Petronas’ gross profits are already paid into federal coffers in the form of taxes, dividends and royalties. The other half is used to reinvest in research and development in oil fields in and outside Malaysia. If all of its profits were to be used to subsidise domestic fuel consumption, we might end up becoming a domestic net importer sooner rather than later.

    Furthermore, Petronas controls only 30% of the local retail market. This means that any subsidy ends up being paid to foreign oil companies and this cost will only increase as international oil prices go up.

    Why did Pak Lah raise prices?

    Given the political backlash that is bound to ensue, why did he go ahead with the price hikes?

    The fiscal pressures were just too strong for him to resist. If he had not done this, the budget deficit would balloon to almost 10% of GDP which could result in a run on the ringgit. Then interest rates would have to rise dramatically. The economic repercussions of that would arguably be worse than the prospect of public protests over the petrol price hike.

    We expect the opposition to fully capitalise on this unpopular move by partnering up with other civil society groups to organise street demonstrations. This would be a continuation of the opposition’s pre-election strategy to ‘out-populist’ the BN, which we argue was already too populist when it came to bread and butter issues.

    Indeed, no politician has made more noise on the issue of petrol prices than Pakatan Rakyat’s leader Anwar Ibrahim who had promised to lower petrol prices if he ever were to become the prime minister. This was effective political rhetoric but it does not make much economic sense given the unsustainability of high subsidies for petrol.

    We seldom find ourselves agreeing with anything Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin says but we concur with his view that it was disingenuous of Anwar to highlight the fact that petrol prices had almost doubled after he was out of government, suggesting that the price rise had something to do with him being out of office rather than the fact that world oil prices had risen dramatically.

    It would be very instructional to see what Anwar has to say about the latest petrol hike. For sure he would condemn it. But would he go as far as to say he would reduce petrol prices if Pakatan comes to power? If so, by how much exactly? Less than RM2.70? Or perhaps less than RM1.92? It would also be interesting to see what opposition leaders in DAP and PAS have to say. Will they promise to reduce petrol prices if Pakatan comes to power?

    We do find it ironic that Abdullah’s first truly brave move post-election may very well be the tipping point that turns the broader public irreversibly against the government, giving Pakatan the psychological boost it needs to fulfill Anwar’s dream of toppling the government sooner rather than later.

  162. Is the Govement think for the people right??
    increse the petrol price for how many times already.
    for the high income family still is ok for survive but how is it for the medium and the low rate family??
    and how about for the out stations service people like a technical people??
    just none stop incresing the pricing for live but didnt set a rate for the company to incress the salary for employee.
    LIKE THIS HOW YOU TO BECOME A GOVEMENT??

  163. if you are going to demo, please target the amount we are getting back not the system. The system of paying back the subside to Malaysian directly is a good one. It should have been done years ago. Now Malaysian can stop subsiding oil for outsiders. This system of paying the subside using road tax will save Malaysians allot of money

  164. but i fear that this is what being expected by the “Be End” gov. could this sudden price hike be a trick to provoke the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) side to conduct on-the-road protests? may be this would give the “Be End” side the opportunity to seize the leaders of PR under ISA. ok, may be i’m just paranoid :p

  167. Change in lifestyles and tightening of belts need to begin at the very top! So the PM needs to slash the salaries and perks of himself and his ministers by at least 40%, instead of asking the poor to eat less. Reminder: King Louis XVI of France and Czar Nicholas of Russian lost their crowns and heads because the poor had to eat less

  168. Our country need to wean off our subsidies, ceiling prices as much as we need to wean of improper abuse of NEP by Umnoputras.

    subsidies for petrol prices mush be reduced and our countrymen must learn to face the fact that we are not competitive and our purchasing power is mere peanuts these days.

    when ppl have race based politics and pitting the ppl againts ppl, the country suffers. so, our country need a major blow and pain so that the ppl in this country wake up from communal politics and stand together united for Malaysia.

    i am againts demo to protest fuel hike YB Lim, rationality must prevail for this country.

  169. Dearest uncle Lim,

    This is wat “some” people said “the revenge from BN after the politics tsunami of 308″… eg. petrol increase, TNB bill increase, tol increase..etc.

    so, DAP, u’r ours’ hope, and pls don’t let us down, do something, and to prove that our’s voted for the opposition is a right & correct decision made!

    we have lost trust on “apa itulah…badak..wee….”….

  170. hi.guys,it is really sad this happen in our country at thistime, as you all know currently we are facing global ecconomy uncertainty.what i am going to say here is only my opinion,i believe PM is not the one in power in our goverment.he got the position,to make decision,but he doesnt have the support from the cabinet.do u all think that the ministers really support him when tun criticise PM?I dont think so.they want a weak leader.so they r the one who incharge n made decision.not the sleepy PM.when Tun is inpower,all those ministers never had “ball”to against him.even “cucuk” each others back in front of the public.but this is different case now.
    I still believe that Our PM is a nice man.But he is too weak also, not suitable as PM.so can we change another PM from BN?no. as the whole BARANG NAIK parties r corrupted.so, r we going to the streat n protest there?what for??theywill ask the police to use force against the people.we r the one who suffer.so uncle kit,pls dont put out the notice where the protest will be taking place.i sincerely beg you.dont let emotion to take over.this is my suggestion.try to organice a forum between the people n barisan rakyat. try to get what is their opinion.n try to arrange a meeting with our PM n our barisan rakyat. pass the messages fr rakyat to him n let him know that the people opinion is constructive.not destructive.n let the people know what is his difficulties.we can help him n he can help the people in return.
    believe me ,Our PM is not enjoying now.he cant just resign because he still want to help the people.he is alone in the BN.
    dont let the BN people destroy our country.n also we cant too emotional .must think carefully especially those barisan rakyat leaders before they made any decision.streat protest is not the way to solve the problems.

  171. Someone ask via malaysiakini, whether we can pay ‘market price’ for cars (foreign n local), if they wan us to pay ‘market price’ for oil ! Make proton cheap, good as foreign cars,
    He said, do away with all taxes n duties (import, excise, road etc), rall road tol, no stupid AP, then we dont mind pay market price for oil

  172. To all people who was fool by our government, PLS don listen to them that our country still enjoying cheap petrol. Other nations might be suffering from expensive petrol but the money their government earn/get is well spent. Look at their country, car is so much cheaper while we pay heavy sales and duty tax. To make it worst, we pay road tax and yet we are still force to pay tolls. Other countries have good and superb medicare, look at our country…maybe only certain ppl enjoying this benefit. Their government is so transparent and clean, look at ours….I am speechless. Our Lingam case already shows we are not that efficient and clean compare to other nations. So pls don compare our fuel price with others as other nations have so much advantage to give to their people . So, why compares while we are already so poor in all standard????

  173. i wish i can be at the protest.

    i am damn proud and happy on our PR performance, they are really putting rakyat in front of any decision made, Grand Saga, water reduction, land title, just to name a few.

    this petrol hike show that the BN is so greedy and so not considerate towards rakyat, be it government servent or private, they just don’t see the people suffering.

    You can see the news from Trade next few days, they DEFINITELY will say that there are a lot of enforcer nationwide to check the price hike, but, this is all bullshit. When the shit don’t hit their face, it is only window dressing.

    really PR can turn the table, why wait till sept ??

  174. Congratulation to Sabah’s MPs for allowing the BN gov. to hike the fuel price at thier own will. Our MPs from Sabah given assurance to PM that they would not jump provided they get something.

  175. <>

    Maybe PR still can’t really rely on those party hopping MPs. They can jump today, they can jump tomorrow. Or even some of the “smaller” MP from PR can easily jump due to $$$ or power, never know. So they try to play safe, not so easily fall into temptations.

    I think BN is digging a bit hole for PR to take over the Govt. Then they going to blame PR for “not able to come up with $$ to run the country”.

    We, M’sians are very forgetful. 1 year later, i think most of us will forget who increased the petrol price. Whoever the Govt then, will be blame for it. I can imagine!

  177. (Dear moderator, please don’t hold back my comments!)

    Ini PM bodoh, tamak & kejam!

    Ini kerajaan tak guna, suka menipu Rakyat!

    Selalu cakap ini culture bukan kita punya culture!

    Selalu cakap ini harga kita paling murah punya!

    Rakyat & kawan-kawan sekalian, janganlah tertipu lagi! Bangun dan lepaskan diri dari genggaman maut anak-anak syaitan & iblis!

    Kita negara pengeluar minyak, kita berhak mendapat harga lebih murah berbanding sekarang!

    Petronas untung ‘berbilion’ bukan ‘bermilion’! Tiap-tiap bulan contest bagi BMW & Mercedes!! Apa ini?!

    Minyak bersangkut-paut dengan banyak industri dan perniagaan kecil negara ini, dalam sekelip mata 40% beban diletakkan pada kami dan Rakyat sekalian – apakah perancangan ini menunjukkan ‘efektif-ness- kerajaan ini? Apakah ‘basis’ atau ‘argument’ atau ‘justification’ yang dibagi kepada rakyat?!!

    Apakah ini petunjuk BN takut kepada DSAI & Makkal Sakthi?! Mungkinkah benar mereka ingin meraut keuntungan dan lari ke negara lain serta bermastautin disana sebelum DSAI & Makkal Sakthi ‘membakar’ mereka?! Mungkin?!

    Walau bagaimana pun, Rakyat sekalian, jangan dengar hasutan anak-anak syaitan & iblis ini lagi, bangun dan buat perkara yang patut, jadilah rakyat Malaysia yang sebenar, saya orang Malaysia, bukan Cina, India, Iban, Melayu, Sikh, bukan, tapi saya orang Malaysia, saya dilahirkan selepas ‘Independence’ kita dan merupakan warga sebenar, nenek moyang saya juga telah menumpahkan darahnya untuk tanah Melayu ini, seperti dalam lagu kebangsaan kita.

    ‘Culture’ itu boleh dipupuk, api itu boleh dinyalakan, semangat itu boleh disemaikan, jangan tunduk lagi kepada kerajaan syaitan ini! Jikalau ‘culture’ itu baik, kita harus belajar dan mempergunakannya!

    Demonstrasi perlu dilakukan, dan ia patut dilakukan, supaya kuasa sebenar Makkal Sakthi boleh dilihat sepenuhnya anak-anak jembalang ini!

    Jikalau takut ISA, tak apa, kita ‘boikot’ (boycott), macam yang diajar Tun Mamak, kalau kita bersatu hati, pasti efektif! Mereka mampu menaikkan 40%, kita mampu memberhentikan ekonomi negara ini! Boikot!

    Memandangkan sistem pengangkutan jalan awam kita yang sungguh efisien, marilah kita sama-sama “beramai-ramai” “membanjiri” dan “menggunakan” ‘public transportation’, jangan pam minyak, mahal, tak ada orang paksa kita membeli minyak, gunakan ‘public transportation’ yang disediakan “kerajaan”, supaya hasrat mereka “tercapai”!

    Bukankah ini munasabah, kita harus gunakan ‘public transportation’, kompani minyak itu dah terlebih untung, jangan bagi lebih sangat, inilah yang dikatakan “bagi betis mahukan paha”!

    Kita harus “gunakan” public transportation hari-hari sehingga tergulungnya maharaja (lela) ini dan kerajaan hantunya!

    Kita harus “gunakan” public transportation sehingga munculnya kerajaan Malaysia baru diketuai DSAI, Pakatan Rakyat & Makkal Sakthi!!!

    DO IT FOR MALAYSIA & DO IT FOR JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  178. The ONLY WAY out is to forced a re-election NOW!
    How???
    Get all the MPs from MCA, MIC, GERAKAN, PBS, SAPP, UPKO, PBRS, & LDP to walk out from the BN.
    I guarantee you that there WILL BE an ALTERNATIVE GOVERNMENT in Malaysia at the end of the election.

  180. I cant believe you are advocating protests and demos as the right thing to do to the Rakyat. It is a little irresponsible and threatening to nation’s peace right? (if i shall put it that way) You are an MP, and that is the best you can suggest?? What happened to rational, realistic and constructive suggestions to overcome this situation?

    This is not expected from an elected MP. Surely there must be other peaceful ways. What will Malaysia become if Malaysians go on a rioting streak? It would be worst iinit????

  181. Well, with their lowly representation of MPs (2 in Garakan, 3 in MIC, & 15 in MCA), if I am one of their leaders, I would think there is not that much to lose anywhere. Come next GE, they can be EXPECTED to be WIPED OUT anywhere due to lack of support.
    By walking out of the BN now, these political parties can tell their members that they are doing that in protest of the sudden exorbitant increase in fuel & food prices. In other words, they are DOING IT FOR THE SACK OF THEIR PEOPLE!
    Very nice and opportunistic political move, wouldn’t you think so??

  184. I agree with the person/s above who say that the increase of 30sen may have been acceptable but 70sen is too much. I don’t know if it is wise for any govt to suddenly increase prices by that much! The rakyat hasn’t even got time to adjust!

    David Cameron goes to parliament in a bicycle. So does the newly elected London Mayor boris Johnson. Perhaps Malaysian MPs care to emulate? But knowing how BN works, they would probably emulate Cameron’s stupidity by having a driver drive behind him with his work clothes… ain’t politics grand?

  188. To Ong Kian Ming and Oon Yeoh,
    ” Even with the price hike, petrol in Malaysia is still comparatively cheap. Petrol in the United States, an oil producer, costs between RM3.50 and RM4.00. In Singapore, it’s more than RM4 liter and in many European countries it’s well above RM5 per liter.”

    Please do not compare US, Singapore and some European countries with Malaysia. Ask yourself what is the per capita income of these countries and what is the per capita income of Malaysia?

    ” Half of Petronas’ gross profit are already paid into Federal coffers in the form of taxes, dividends and royalties. The other half is used to reinvest in research and developments. ”

    How can you make such a claim when Petronas’s accounts are confidential. Your justification for AAB to reduce subsidy is rubbish!

  190. Pingback: Petrol Increase - To Sum It Up « ReminisceRespondRelax

  191. Looks like Badawi is too scared to show his face in public that he has to send his wife to make a speech for him. Malaysia has become not a good country to live in because of UMNO’s corruption and greed. And UMNO has the nerve to ask the rakyat to change their lifestyle when it should be UMNO to change its lifestyle of rampant waste and inefficiencies.

  192. Dear YB LKY,

    Now let all us learn from the GLOBAL MACRO picture….

    That is why Malaysia Boleh would rather unleash its Political Harakiri before the great Financial Tsunami and WE have to use bicycles to the market, and eat leftovers from McDonald’s……….

    Subject: RE: The Great Oil Swindle

    Meanwhile the Arabs are laughing their way to the banks in their Diamond Studded Mercedes Benzes, Dubai is building is umpteenth luxury Hotel, and WE have to use bicycles to the market, and eat leftovers from McDonald’s……….

    Read also the Letter in the Star today, one of the rare smart readers said in his letter Speculators to blame for huge rise in prices
    and I quote….” ….We should stop this madness before more damage is done.

    The flow of French wine and caviar must stop among the speculators, the hedge fund operators and their high net worth clients.

    And should they get into trouble again, the national governments worldwide must let them die a lingering death. No more bailing out; no more too big to fail……”

    The Great Oil Swindle

    How much did the Fed really know?

    By Mike Whitney

    30/05/08 “ICH” — – The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating trading in oil futures to determine whether the surge in prices to record levels is the result of manipulation or fraud. They might want to take a look at wheat, rice and corn futures while they’re at it. The whole thing is a hoax cooked up by the investment banks and hedge funds who are trying to dig their way out of the trillion dollar mortgage-backed securities (MBS) mess that they created by turning garbage loans into securities. That scam blew up in their face last August and left them scrounging for handouts from the Federal Reserve. Now the billions of dollars they’re getting from the Fed is being diverted into commodities which is destabilizing the world economy; driving gas prices to the moon and triggering food riots across the planet.

    For months we’ve been told that the soaring price of oil has been the result of Peak Oil, fighting in Iraq, attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria, labor problems in Norway, and (the all-time favorite)growth in China. It’s all baloney. Just like Goldman Sachs prediction of $200 per barrel oil is baloney. If oil is about to skyrocket then why has G-Sax kept a neutral rating on some of its oil holdings like Exxon Mobile? Could it be that they know that oil is just another mega-inflated equity bubble—like housing, corporate bonds and dot.com stocks—that is about to crash to earth as soon as the big players grab a parachute?

    There are three things that are driving up the price of oil: the falling dollar, speculation and buying on margin.

    The dollar is tanking because of the Federal Reserve’s low interest monetary policies have kept interest rates below the rate of inflation for most of the last decade. Add that to the $700 billion current account deficit and a National Debt that has increased from $5.8 trillion when Bush first took office to over $9 trillion today and it’s a wonder the dollar hasn’t gone “Poof” already.

    According to a January 4 editorial in the Wall Street Journal: “If the dollar had remained ‘as good as gold’ since 2001, oil today would be selling at about $30 per barrel, not $99. (today $126 per barrel) The decline of the dollar against gold and oil suggests a US monetary that is supplying too many dollars.” Wall Street Journal 1-4-08

    The price of oil has more than quadrupled since 2001, from roughly $30 per barrel to $126, WITHOUT ANY DISRUPTIONS TO SUPPLY. There’s no shortage; it’s just gibberish.

    As far as “buying on margin” consider this summary from author William Engdahl:

    “A conservative calculation is that at least 60% of today’s $128 per barrel price of crude oil comes from unregulated futures speculation by hedge funds, banks and financial groups using the London ICE Futures and New York NYMEX futures exchanges and uncontrolled inter-bank or Over-The-Counter trading to avoid scrutiny. US margin rules of the government’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission allow speculators to buy a crude oil futures contract on the Nymex, by having to pay only 6% of the value of the contract. At today’s price of $128 per barrel, that means a futures trader only has to put up about $8 for every barrel. He borrows the other $120. This extreme “leverage” of 16 to 1 helps drive prices to wildly unrealistic levels and offset bank losses in sub-prime and other disasters at the expense of the overall population.”

    So the investment banks and their trading partners at the hedge funds can game the system for a mere 8 bucks per barrel or 16 to 1 leverage. Not bad, eh?

    Is it possible that gambling on oil futures might be a temptation for banks that are already underwater from a trillion dollars worth of mortgage-related deals that have “gone south” leaving the banking system essentially bankrupt?

    And if the banks and hedgies are not playing this game, then where is the money coming from? I have compiled charts and graphs that show that nearly two-thirds of the big investment banks’ revenue came from the securitization of commercial and residential real estate loans. That market is frozen. Besides, this is not just a matter of “loan delinquencies” or MBS that have to be written off. The banks are “revenue starved”. How are they filling the coffers? They’re either neck-deep in interest rate swaps, derivatives trading, or gaming the futures market. Which is it?

    Of course, there is one other possibility, but if that possibility turned out to be right than it would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the entire financial system. In fact, it would prove that the system is being rigged from the top-down by our friends at the Banking Politburo, the Federal Reserve. Here goes:

    What if the investment banks are trading their worthless MBS and CDOs at the Fed’s auction facilities and using the money ($400 billion) to drive up the price of raw materials like rice, corn, wheat, and oil?

    Could it be? Could the Fed really be looking the other way so it can bail out its banking buddies while they drive prices skyward?

    If it is true; (and I suspect it is) it hasn’t done much good. As the Associated Press reported yesterday:

    “The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it will make a fresh batch of short-term cash loans available to squeezed banks as part of an ongoing effort to ease stressed credit markets. The Fed said it will conduct three auctions in June, with each one making $75 billion available in short-term cash loans. Banks can bid for a slice of the available funds. It would mark the latest round in a program that the Fed launched in December to help banks overcome credit problems so they will keep lending to customers.”

    Another $225 billion for the bankers and not a dime for the struggling homeowner! The Fed is bankrupting the country with their permanent rotating loans to keep reckless speculators from going under. So much for moral hazard.

    As far as speculation, there is ample evidence that the system is being manipulated. According to MarketWatch:

    “Speculative activity in commodity markets has grown “enormously” over the past several years, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said in a news release. It pointed out that in five years, from 2003 to 2008, investment in the index funds tied to commodities has grown by 20-fold — to $260 billion from $13 billion.”

    And here’s a revealing clip from the testimony of Michael W. Masters of Masters Capital Management, LLC, who addressed the issue of “Commodities Speculation” before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs this week:

    “Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities futures
    markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. …In the popular press the explanation given most often for rising oil prices is the increased demand for oil from China. According to the DOE, annual Chinese demand for petroleum has increased over the last five years from 1.88 billion barrels to 2.8 billion barrels, an increase of 920 million barrels.8 Over the same five-year period, Index Speculators’ demand for petroleum futures has increased by 848 million barrels. THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM INDEX SPECULATORS IS ALMOST EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM CHINA.

    Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding eight times as much oil to their own stockpile as the United States has added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years.

    Today, in many commodities futures markets, they are the single largest force.15 The huge growth in their demand has gone virtually undetected by classically-trained economists who almost never analyze demand in futures markets.

    As money pours into the markets, two things happen concurrently: the markets expand and prices rise. One particularly troubling aspect of Index Speculator demand is that it actually increases the more prices increase. This explains the accelerating rate at which commodity futures prices (and actual commodity prices) are increasing. The CFTC has taken deliberate steps to allow CERTAIN SPECULATORS VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE COMMODITIES FUTURES MARKETS. The CFTC has granted Wall Street banks an exemption from speculative position limits when these banks hedge over-the-counter swaps transactions. This has effectively opened a loophole for unlimited speculation. When Index Speculators enter into commodity index swaps, which 85-90% of them do, they face no speculative position limits…. The result is a gross distortion in data that effectively hides the full impact of Index Speculation.” (Thanks to Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis; the one “indispensable” financial blog on the Internet)

    Masters adds that the CFTC is pressing to make “Index Speculators exempt from all position limits” so they can make “unlimited” bets on the futures which are wreaking havoc on the global economy and pushing millions towards starvation. Of course, these things pale in comparison to the higher priority of fatting the bottom line of the parasitic investor class.

    Brimming oil tankers are presently sitting off the coasts of Iran and Louisiana. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been filled. Demand is flat. The world’s biggest consumer of energy (guess who?) is cutting back . As CNN reports:

    “At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate. The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded. Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less — that’s 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it “the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history.” (CNN)

    The great oil crunch is another fabricated crisis; another “smoke and mirrors” fiasco; another Enron-type shell-game engineered by banksters and hedge fund managers. Once again, the bloody footprints can be traced right back to the front door of the Federal Reserve. Don’t expect help from the regulators either; they’ve all been replaced with business reps like Harvey Pitt or Hank Paulson. The only time anyone in the Bush administration finds their conscience is when they’re offered a multi-million dollar “tell all” book deal.

    Can you hear me, Scotty?

    8:05 PM

    edit comment publish this comment

    Fuel hike is excessive burden to the people. In a press release issued this morning, the former Finance Minister and axed DPM repeated his election promise that petrol and diesel prices can be kept low.
    He accused the Government of allowing Petronas’ colossal hidden profits to be used for cronies and family members instead of the people.

    Anwar was in the Government, so he should know. Read here.

    Two night ago, on RTM, I asked the current Finance Minister 2 about the higher revenues the country earns from higher world oil prices. Malaysia earns US$250 million more each time oil price increases by US$1 per barrel.
    Nor Mohamed Yakcob said the Government is of the opinion that “keuntungan PETRONAS sepatut di gunakan untuk masa depan negara dan juga anak-anak dan cucu-cucu kita” (Petronas’ profits should be saved for Malaysia’s future generations).
    For the full transcript of interview, click here.

    posted by Rocky’s Bru at 11:24 on 05-Jun-2008
    Leave your comment
    DEAR POSTERS,

    [ aNONymous CLAUSE ]

    “If you must use ANONYMOUS to leave a comment, please add a nickname at the end of that comment. Without the nick, your comment won’t get posted.”
    Dear Rocky, Now let all us learn from the GLOBAL MACRO picture…. That is why Malaysia Boleh beat the great Financial Tsunami with its Political Harakiri. Subject: RE: The Great Oil Swindle Meanwhile the Arabs are laughing their way to the banks in their Diamond Studded Mercedes Benzes, Dubai is building is umpteenth luxury Hotel, and WE have to use bicycles to the market, and eat leftovers from McDonald’s………. Read also the Letter in the Star today, one of the rare smart readers said in his letter Speculators to blame for huge rise in prices and I quote….” ….We should stop this madness before more damage is done. The flow of French wine and caviar must stop among the speculators, the hedge fund operators and their high net worth clients. And should they get into trouble again, the national governments worldwide must let them die a lingering death. No more bailing out; no more too big to fail……” The Great Oil Swindle How much did the Fed really know? By Mike Whitney 30/05/08 “ICH” — – The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating trading in oil futures to determine whether the surge in prices to record levels is the result of manipulation or fraud. They might want to take a look at wheat, rice and corn futures while they’re at it. The whole thing is a hoax cooked up by the investment banks and hedge funds who are trying to dig their way out of the trillion dollar mortgage-backed securities (MBS) mess that they created by turning garbage loans into securities. That scam blew up in their face last August and left them scrounging for handouts from the Federal Reserve. Now the billions of dollars they’re getting from the Fed is being diverted into commodities which is destabilizing the world economy; driving gas prices to the moon and triggering food riots across the planet. For months we’ve been told that the soaring price of oil has been the result of Peak Oil, fighting in Iraq, attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria, labor problems in Norway, and (the all-time favorite)growth in China. It’s all baloney. Just like Goldman Sachs prediction of $200 per barrel oil is baloney. If oil is about to skyrocket then why has G-Sax kept a neutral rating on some of its oil holdings like Exxon Mobile? Could it be that they know that oil is just another mega-inflated equity bubble—like housing, corporate bonds and dot.com stocks—that is about to crash to earth as soon as the big players grab a parachute? There are three things that are driving up the price of oil: the falling dollar, speculation and buying on margin. The dollar is tanking because of the Federal Reserve’s low interest monetary policies have kept interest rates below the rate of inflation for most of the last decade. Add that to the $700 billion current account deficit and a National Debt that has increased from $5.8 trillion when Bush first took office to over $9 trillion today and it’s a wonder the dollar hasn’t gone “Poof” already. According to a January 4 editorial in the Wall Street Journal: “If the dollar had remained ‘as good as gold’ since 2001, oil today would be selling at about $30 per barrel, not $99. (today $126 per barrel) The decline of the dollar against gold and oil suggests a US monetary that is supplying too many dollars.” Wall Street Journal 1-4-08 The price of oil has more than quadrupled since 2001, from roughly $30 per barrel to $126, WITHOUT ANY DISRUPTIONS TO SUPPLY. There’s no shortage; it’s just gibberish. As far as “buying on margin” consider this summary from author William Engdahl: “A conservative calculation is that at least 60% of today’s $128 per barrel price of crude oil comes from unregulated futures speculation by hedge funds, banks and financial groups using the London ICE Futures and New York NYMEX futures exchanges and uncontrolled inter-bank or Over-The-Counter trading to avoid scrutiny. US margin rules of the government’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission allow speculators to buy a crude oil futures contract on the Nymex, by having to pay only 6% of the value of the contract. At today’s price of $128 per barrel, that means a futures trader only has to put up about $8 for every barrel. He borrows the other $120. This extreme “leverage” of 16 to 1 helps drive prices to wildly unrealistic levels and offset bank losses in sub-prime and other disasters at the expense of the overall population.” So the investment banks and their trading partners at the hedge funds can game the system for a mere 8 bucks per barrel or 16 to 1 leverage. Not bad, eh? Is it possible that gambling on oil futures might be a temptation for banks that are already underwater from a trillion dollars worth of mortgage-related deals that have “gone south” leaving the banking system essentially bankrupt? And if the banks and hedgies are not playing this game, then where is the money coming from? I have compiled charts and graphs that show that nearly two-thirds of the big investment banks’ revenue came from the securitization of commercial and residential real estate loans. That market is frozen. Besides, this is not just a matter of “loan delinquencies” or MBS that have to be written off. The banks are “revenue starved”. How are they filling the coffers? They’re either neck-deep in interest rate swaps, derivatives trading, or gaming the futures market. Which is it? Of course, there is one other possibility, but if that possibility turned out to be right than it would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the entire financial system. In fact, it would prove that the system is being rigged from the top-down by our friends at the Banking Politburo, the Federal Reserve. Here goes: What if the investment banks are trading their worthless MBS and CDOs at the Fed’s auction facilities and using the money ($400 billion) to drive up the price of raw materials like rice, corn, wheat, and oil? Could it be? Could the Fed really be looking the other way so it can bail out its banking buddies while they drive prices skyward? If it is true; (and I suspect it is) it hasn’t done much good. As the Associated Press reported yesterday: “The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it will make a fresh batch of short-term cash loans available to squeezed banks as part of an ongoing effort to ease stressed credit markets. The Fed said it will conduct three auctions in June, with each one making $75 billion available in short-term cash loans. Banks can bid for a slice of the available funds. It would mark the latest round in a program that the Fed launched in December to help banks overcome credit problems so they will keep lending to customers.” Another $225 billion for the bankers and not a dime for the struggling homeowner! The Fed is bankrupting the country with their permanent rotating loans to keep reckless speculators from going under. So much for moral hazard. As far as speculation, there is ample evidence that the system is being manipulated. According to MarketWatch: “Speculative activity in commodity markets has grown “enormously” over the past several years, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said in a news release. It pointed out that in five years, from 2003 to 2008, investment in the index funds tied to commodities has grown by 20-fold — to $260 billion from $13 billion.” And here’s a revealing clip from the testimony of Michael W. Masters of Masters Capital Management, LLC, who addressed the issue of “Commodities Speculation” before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs this week: “Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities futures markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. …In the popular press the explanation given most often for rising oil prices is the increased demand for oil from China. According to the DOE, annual Chinese demand for petroleum has increased over the last five years from 1.88 billion barrels to 2.8 billion barrels, an increase of 920 million barrels.8 Over the same five-year period, Index Speculators’ demand for petroleum futures has increased by 848 million barrels. THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM INDEX SPECULATORS IS ALMOST EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM CHINA. Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding eight times as much oil to their own stockpile as the United States has added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years. Today, in many commodities futures markets, they are the single largest force.15 The huge growth in their demand has gone virtually undetected by classically-trained economists who almost never analyze demand in futures markets. As money pours into the markets, two things happen concurrently: the markets expand and prices rise. One particularly troubling aspect of Index Speculator demand is that it actually increases the more prices increase. This explains the accelerating rate at which commodity futures prices (and actual commodity prices) are increasing. The CFTC has taken deliberate steps to allow CERTAIN SPECULATORS VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE COMMODITIES FUTURES MARKETS. The CFTC has granted Wall Street banks an exemption from speculative position limits when these banks hedge over-the-counter swaps transactions. This has effectively opened a loophole for unlimited speculation. When Index Speculators enter into commodity index swaps, which 85-90% of them do, they face no speculative position limits…. The result is a gross distortion in data that effectively hides the full impact of Index Speculation.” (Thanks to Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis; the one “indispensable” financial blog on the Internet) Masters adds that the CFTC is pressing to make “Index Speculators exempt from all position limits” so they can make “unlimited” bets on the futures which are wreaking havoc on the global economy and pushing millions towards starvation. Of course, these things pale in comparison to the higher priority of fatting the bottom line of the parasitic investor class. Brimming oil tankers are presently sitting off the coasts of Iran and Louisiana. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been filled. Demand is flat. The world’s biggest consumer of energy (guess who?) is cutting back . As CNN reports: “At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate. The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded. Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less — that’s 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it “the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history.” (CNN) The great oil crunch is another fabricated crisis; another “smoke and mirrors” fiasco; another Enron-type shell-game engineered by banksters and hedge fund managers. Once again, the bloody footprints can be traced right back to the front door of the Federal Reserve. Don’t expect help from the regulators either; they’ve all been replaced with business reps like Harvey Pitt or Hank Paulson. The only time anyone in the Bush administration finds their conscience is when they’re offered a multi-million dollar “tell all” book deal. Can you hear me, Scotty?

  193. Apologies for the earlier comment, appreciate if you can delete it – this is the edited version. Tq.

    Dear YB LKY,

    Now let all us learn from the GLOBAL MACRO picture….

    That is why Malaysia Boleh would rather unleash its Political Harakiri before the great Financial Tsunami and WE have to use bicycles to the market, and eat leftovers from McDonald’s……….

    Subject: RE: The Great Oil Swindle

    Meanwhile the Arabs are laughing their way to the banks in their Diamond Studded Mercedes Benzes, Dubai is building is umpteenth luxury Hotel, and WE have to use bicycles to the market, and eat leftovers from McDonald’s……….

    Read also the Letter in the Star today, one of the rare smart readers said in his letter Speculators to blame for huge rise in prices
    and I quote….” ….We should stop this madness before more damage is done.

    The flow of French wine and caviar must stop among the speculators, the hedge fund operators and their high net worth clients.

    And should they get into trouble again, the national governments worldwide must let them die a lingering death. No more bailing out; no more too big to fail……”

    The Great Oil Swindle

    How much did the Fed really know?

    By Mike Whitney

    30/05/08 “ICH” — – The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating trading in oil futures to determine whether the surge in prices to record levels is the result of manipulation or fraud. They might want to take a look at wheat, rice and corn futures while they’re at it. The whole thing is a hoax cooked up by the investment banks and hedge funds who are trying to dig their way out of the trillion dollar mortgage-backed securities (MBS) mess that they created by turning garbage loans into securities. That scam blew up in their face last August and left them scrounging for handouts from the Federal Reserve. Now the billions of dollars they’re getting from the Fed is being diverted into commodities which is destabilizing the world economy; driving gas prices to the moon and triggering food riots across the planet.

    For months we’ve been told that the soaring price of oil has been the result of Peak Oil, fighting in Iraq, attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria, labor problems in Norway, and (the all-time favorite)growth in China. It’s all baloney. Just like Goldman Sachs prediction of $200 per barrel oil is baloney. If oil is about to skyrocket then why has G-Sax kept a neutral rating on some of its oil holdings like Exxon Mobile? Could it be that they know that oil is just another mega-inflated equity bubble—like housing, corporate bonds and dot.com stocks—that is about to crash to earth as soon as the big players grab a parachute?

    There are three things that are driving up the price of oil: the falling dollar, speculation and buying on margin.

    The dollar is tanking because of the Federal Reserve’s low interest monetary policies have kept interest rates below the rate of inflation for most of the last decade. Add that to the $700 billion current account deficit and a National Debt that has increased from $5.8 trillion when Bush first took office to over $9 trillion today and it’s a wonder the dollar hasn’t gone “Poof” already.

    According to a January 4 editorial in the Wall Street Journal: “If the dollar had remained ‘as good as gold’ since 2001, oil today would be selling at about $30 per barrel, not $99. (today $126 per barrel) The decline of the dollar against gold and oil suggests a US monetary that is supplying too many dollars.” Wall Street Journal 1-4-08

    The price of oil has more than quadrupled since 2001, from roughly $30 per barrel to $126, WITHOUT ANY DISRUPTIONS TO SUPPLY. There’s no shortage; it’s just gibberish.

    As far as “buying on margin” consider this summary from author William Engdahl:

    “A conservative calculation is that at least 60% of today’s $128 per barrel price of crude oil comes from unregulated futures speculation by hedge funds, banks and financial groups using the London ICE Futures and New York NYMEX futures exchanges and uncontrolled inter-bank or Over-The-Counter trading to avoid scrutiny. US margin rules of the government’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission allow speculators to buy a crude oil futures contract on the Nymex, by having to pay only 6% of the value of the contract. At today’s price of $128 per barrel, that means a futures trader only has to put up about $8 for every barrel. He borrows the other $120. This extreme “leverage” of 16 to 1 helps drive prices to wildly unrealistic levels and offset bank losses in sub-prime and other disasters at the expense of the overall population.”

    So the investment banks and their trading partners at the hedge funds can game the system for a mere 8 bucks per barrel or 16 to 1 leverage. Not bad, eh?

    Is it possible that gambling on oil futures might be a temptation for banks that are already underwater from a trillion dollars worth of mortgage-related deals that have “gone south” leaving the banking system essentially bankrupt?

    And if the banks and hedgies are not playing this game, then where is the money coming from? I have compiled charts and graphs that show that nearly two-thirds of the big investment banks’ revenue came from the securitization of commercial and residential real estate loans. That market is frozen. Besides, this is not just a matter of “loan delinquencies” or MBS that have to be written off. The banks are “revenue starved”. How are they filling the coffers? They’re either neck-deep in interest rate swaps, derivatives trading, or gaming the futures market. Which is it?

    Of course, there is one other possibility, but if that possibility turned out to be right than it would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the entire financial system. In fact, it would prove that the system is being rigged from the top-down by our friends at the Banking Politburo, the Federal Reserve. Here goes:

    What if the investment banks are trading their worthless MBS and CDOs at the Fed’s auction facilities and using the money ($400 billion) to drive up the price of raw materials like rice, corn, wheat, and oil?

    Could it be? Could the Fed really be looking the other way so it can bail out its banking buddies while they drive prices skyward?

    If it is true; (and I suspect it is) it hasn’t done much good. As the Associated Press reported yesterday:

    “The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it will make a fresh batch of short-term cash loans available to squeezed banks as part of an ongoing effort to ease stressed credit markets. The Fed said it will conduct three auctions in June, with each one making $75 billion available in short-term cash loans. Banks can bid for a slice of the available funds. It would mark the latest round in a program that the Fed launched in December to help banks overcome credit problems so they will keep lending to customers.”

    Another $225 billion for the bankers and not a dime for the struggling homeowner! The Fed is bankrupting the country with their permanent rotating loans to keep reckless speculators from going under. So much for moral hazard.

    As far as speculation, there is ample evidence that the system is being manipulated. According to MarketWatch:

    “Speculative activity in commodity markets has grown “enormously” over the past several years, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said in a news release. It pointed out that in five years, from 2003 to 2008, investment in the index funds tied to commodities has grown by 20-fold — to $260 billion from $13 billion.”

    And here’s a revealing clip from the testimony of Michael W. Masters of Masters Capital Management, LLC, who addressed the issue of “Commodities Speculation” before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs this week:

    “Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities futures
    markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. …In the popular press the explanation given most often for rising oil prices is the increased demand for oil from China. According to the DOE, annual Chinese demand for petroleum has increased over the last five years from 1.88 billion barrels to 2.8 billion barrels, an increase of 920 million barrels.8 Over the same five-year period, Index Speculators’ demand for petroleum futures has increased by 848 million barrels. THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM INDEX SPECULATORS IS ALMOST EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM CHINA.

    Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding eight times as much oil to their own stockpile as the United States has added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years.

    Today, in many commodities futures markets, they are the single largest force.15 The huge growth in their demand has gone virtually undetected by classically-trained economists who almost never analyze demand in futures markets.

    As money pours into the markets, two things happen concurrently: the markets expand and prices rise. One particularly troubling aspect of Index Speculator demand is that it actually increases the more prices increase. This explains the accelerating rate at which commodity futures prices (and actual commodity prices) are increasing. The CFTC has taken deliberate steps to allow CERTAIN SPECULATORS VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE COMMODITIES FUTURES MARKETS. The CFTC has granted Wall Street banks an exemption from speculative position limits when these banks hedge over-the-counter swaps transactions. This has effectively opened a loophole for unlimited speculation. When Index Speculators enter into commodity index swaps, which 85-90% of them do, they face no speculative position limits…. The result is a gross distortion in data that effectively hides the full impact of Index Speculation.” (Thanks to Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis; the one “indispensable” financial blog on the Internet)

    Masters adds that the CFTC is pressing to make “Index Speculators exempt from all position limits” so they can make “unlimited” bets on the futures which are wreaking havoc on the global economy and pushing millions towards starvation. Of course, these things pale in comparison to the higher priority of fatting the bottom line of the parasitic investor class.

    Brimming oil tankers are presently sitting off the coasts of Iran and Louisiana. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been filled. Demand is flat. The world’s biggest consumer of energy (guess who?) is cutting back . As CNN reports:

    “At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate. The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded. Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less — that’s 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it “the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history.” (CNN)

    The great oil crunch is another fabricated crisis; another “smoke and mirrors” fiasco; another Enron-type shell-game engineered by banksters and hedge fund managers. Once again, the bloody footprints can be traced right back to the front door of the Federal Reserve. Don’t expect help from the regulators either; they’ve all been replaced with business reps like Harvey Pitt or Hank Paulson. The only time anyone in the Bush administration finds their conscience is when they’re offered a multi-million dollar “tell all” book deal.

    Can you hear me, Scotty?

  194. undegrad2 says:
    “I suggest you guys cycle to work. It is after all environmental friendly. We used to cycle to get from point A to point B during our early years. Why can’t we do the same? That would make us less dependent on oil.
    It is time.”

    this undergrad2 is talking nonsense. May be he is away for too long. Hello, there is no bicycle lanes here in bolehland. Most of the drivers are very stressed up people. They will not give a damn to you and will just conveniently knock you down, got it NYorker?

  195. and now they all chicken shit are hiding in an xclusive lavish retreat in Glamarie discussing political future.

    hey there is no future, u have just commit political suicide

    might as well just mass harakiri!

  196. COULD IT BE THE GOVT IS IN A CRITICAL FINANCIAL SITUATION? HOW COME? SIMPLE. FORWARD SALE FOR OUR CRUDE OIL FOR YEAR 2008 AT AVERAGE US70 PER BARREL BUT NOW HAVE TO BUY FOR OWN CONSUMPTION AT CURRENT US135 PER BARREL. SO NO MONEY LAH !!! HOW TO SUBSIDIZE?

  198. highhand Says:

    ‘mahathir is right that badawi will destroy bn’

    Who cares if he destroy BN?

    But now he is destroying Malaysia! Malaysians should not let this to happen!!

    Abdullah Badawi…. STEP DOWN !

  199. I am sure some commentators and readers are managing their own business.
    This is a real crisis for the low and middle income workers.
    I appeal to them…to increase the salaries of their workers…with no delay…..not few moths alter…but right now.
    I did my part today…for June salaries…all adjusted…to help… ease their pains and sorrows.
    It is not a matter…whether…the company have extra profits or a budget to do that… right away.
    It is a must and right thing to do.
    It is unavoidable….and must be done. They are the reason..the company is functioning….not your fantastic idea or your products. Without them….nothing can move..
    Please have a heart…and think of them. Thanks.
    Enjoy together…now suffer together.
    And my personal opinion on the matter…UMNO is shit!!
    Go read what Mrs. Anwar wrote and published at Malaysiakini.
    Oil producing countries with surplus for exports….all are selling oil…below RM1…. per litre!!
    It’s done…and staffs with small salaries….will suffer the most.
    Rebates..by UMNO? My foot! That will take more than a year to claim…by anyone..but what about monthly budget….who is helping them out?
    If bosses do not help workers.they are heartless and stingy blokes!!

  200. yes,flyer168,i have told many of my friends,most of them disbelieved!
    U know what i told them?
    All these hedge fund,bond,commodities,derivatives,future index and blablabla were invented by europeans,all are just contracts,the rest of the world are merely followers,they give the latter contracts,just few pieces of paper,the latter have to deliver the ‘goods’ when it expires,such as solid cash and commodities!
    We hold a contract,and our cash,goods,commodities,oil…………..transfered into their hands;and,they ‘export’ the goods to third countries and ofcourse,collecting solid cash too!
    when the bond expires,ofcourse these matsallehs will deliver the promises by remitting cash to the contract holders,they dun care billions or trillions,they just print the notes and pay!U know how and why?
    Who are the keymen behind World Monetary Fund and World Bank?
    All these New Yorkees and Londonese invented the ‘rules and regulations’ for all the banks as a mandatory things to do,and do you think they themselves have to adhere to?Who monitor them?Nobody!For the rest of the national banks,if they intend to print notes that worth USD100 billions,they need to have a ‘mortgage’ that worth that much,otherwise they are not allowed to proceed,all governed by the World Bank,so ,eventually,all our resources go to them free of charge!
    China is very smart,they know these internatinal tricks,so they strongly promote barter trades,try to minimize the losses ,bcos there are many intangible goods that they need to buy.
    Very scary huh?

  202. whiles those NYork & Londn f..ker speculator ssholud limit their trade,
    what fu..k regulations they talk abt when let oil price surge to moronic high level which drag down at least 90% of the world population.

  204. “Govt should abolish all AP, excise duties, import tax, sales tax, road tax, all road tol ,etc on cars before watn to do away petrol subsidy totally.”

    I second the proposal!

  205. woh!! i wonder monsterball still has vancacy.

    my pay has not increase since 4 years ago, it is not due to my performance but due to the economic of malaysia and the nature of business.

    i think i will hang myself very soon.

  206. “monsterball Says:…I appeal to them…to increase the salaries of their workers…with no delay…..not few moths alter…but right now…”

    At first, I wanted to support motion immediately…but then, after thinking over the situation and implications, I think we should do NOTHING of that sort…for NOW!
    WHY???
    Malaysians are mostly…well..kinda “sit back and observe what will happen next” kind of people..not very pro-active by nature. So, with these many increases in the costs of living ALL at one time, most Malaysians will start to realize that this is indeed happening and that with their relatively low income, they cannot survive. Anger, frustrations, and desperations will set chain reactions with “people’s power” that will FINALLY bring some positive changes to Malaysia after 50 years of independence. This will be much more effective that that DAP token demonstration yesterday.

    Anybody NOTICE how very quiet the PKR & PAS have been over all this issues?? I smell something cooking!
    And the wife of that Bodohwi delivering his speech in his place? Where is that Bodohwi?? Very interesting question and very2 intriguing indeed!
    Anybody got any idea as to what’s going on RIGHT NOW???..hehehe..Wonder what that Bodohwi will be announcing within the next twenty four hours?? Perhaps Bodohwi stepping down, due to health reasons, with Najib becoming PM and Mujahiddin as DPM??

  207. Oh yah! Someone mentioned that he would think that there should be less traffic on the road since the fuel price hike. I told him to wait approximately 4 to 7 days when all those full fuel tanks (filled at the eleven hour of the fuel price hike) starts getting empty. Then he will really see the effects of the fuel price hikes when reality sinks into the still shell-shocked Malaysian motorist.

  208. Govt is petronas’s bodyguard and petronas is blood sucker!!!

    petrol is NOT buying from Arab countries and it is produced from Malaysia. so, if fact, it’s we, the rayat, subsidies petronas but NOT the govt subsidies people!!!

    for example, durian is RM8.00 per kg in Malaysia and RM 108.00 per kg in Japan, so how can the govt now says: “it is because we the govt subsidize Malaysian people RM100.00 to eat cheaper durian in Malaysia” ??? correct, correct correct!!!

  209. You are very correct Pandancsy!…hehehe..how about going to a public toilet? Exactly how much would you say our ‘beloved’ Bodohwi estimate the government has subsidized us??

  211. Sepatutnya bila harga minyak naik pendapatan minyak negara akan bertambah. Jadi keuntungan akan bertambah juga. Duit Petronas sepatutnya fokus untuk subsidi minyak untuk kegunaan rakyat negara ini. tidak perlu guna untuk benda lain yang tidak berfaedah dan menguntungkan golongan tertentu sahaja.kenaikan harga minyak yang melampau menyebabkan semua harga barang dan perkhidmatan naik dgn melampau dan menyusahkan rakyat. Yang untung dan terus kaya ‘orang atas’ dan peniaga yg pandai memanipulasi harga.golongan sederhana dan bawahan habis jatuh terduduk! F**K BN! (B**I Negara) Tunggulah next election pasti BN akan gulung tikar!

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