For the past month, two questions have obsessed Malaysians.
The first has been answered, viz: whether Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will bow down to pressures from inside Umno for a quick exit as Prime Minister by announcing that he would not defend the post of Umno President in the forthcoming Umno General Assembly.
The second question, still awaiting answer, is whether the government could respond nimbly to the rapid fall in world crude prices to undo its unconscionable 41% hike in fuel prices in June which had kicked off a relentless inflationary spiral hitting a 27-year high.
When the price of petrol in Malaysia was hiked by 41% by 78 sen from RM1.92 to RM2.70 a litre, the price of world crude oil was around US$140 per barrel.
World oil prices have plummeted to a one-year low below US$78 a barrel, but the price of petrol is RM2.45 or reduced by a mere 25 sen in two reductions.
This is clearly unacceptable and the situation is not made any more palatable with the statement yesterday by the Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs Datuk Seri Shahrir Samad of the possibility that the price of petrol reverting to the old price of RM1.92 a litre if world crude oil price continues to dip below US$72 per barrel.
What Malaysians want is immediate action.
Last night, at the DAP Rasah dinner, I had called on Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who has become the Finance Minister, to present a revised 2009 Budget when Parliament reconvenes on Monday, as the 2009 Budget presented by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on August 29 had been overtaken by economic events in the past six weeks – in particular the looming financial meltdown which has already precipitated a US$700 billion bailout , compared to the 1929 Great Depression and wiped out RM57 billion market capitalisation from the local bourse this week.
Najib should suspend all Umno commitments for the rest of the weekend and “burn midnight oil” to table a revised 2009 Budget in Parliament on Monday , with the centrepiece on the strategy to enable Malaysia to tide through the financial maelstrom but also incorporating new lowered pricing for petrol as world crude oil has plunged below US$78 per barrel.
This is Najib’s first challenge as Finance Minister – to demonstrate that he is on top of his new task as Finance Minister and not be accused of being a latter-day Nero “fiddling while Rome burns”.
i beg najib to do something about this, not putting high hopes though
With world crude oil price plunging to below US$78 per barrel and indications are that it will dip further, it’s high time the government take immediate steps to revise again our petrol price to the MR1.92 level or even lower to alleviate the hardships faced by the rakyat. That it can at least do and do it , it can. Our new Finance Minister Najib can show us that he really cares for the welfare of the people by reverting the price of petrol to the RM1.92 level as soon as Parliament meets on Monday. Then it will be all kudos to him!
They want to wait until the crude price get higher first before they adjust the price for us! Sure like that one. They have BAD intention! Only want to maximise Petronas’ profit.
Because to them, Petronas=Umno!
petrol price should decrease more….
rapidly increase by 41% but then only decrease by a few sen…
not fair.
Kit,
Continue to harp on lowering the petrol price issue during parliament sessions and don’t let the subsidies, which the rakyat deserve, end up in BN cronies pockets.
when crude oil at all time high today announce tomorrow price up. very fast action taken by government,
but when crude oil drop to almost 77.70 USD now will we going to wait for price to drop for another 2 months.
I think now we rakyat malaysia are subsidy back the current government. Yes we need immediate action please lower the petrol price tomorrow monday.
sighhh… don really dare to hope too much from the half pass six gov…
I think the umno gormen must be waiting for another by-election to put the reduction through. They want to hold back so that they can use it as sweet to be handed out during any pre-by-election campaign.
Welcome to the opposite side of the world, everything blogged will be just opposite to the outside world, as those UMNO leaders will never ever listen to the people.
Najib must not be contented with Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs Datuk Seri Shahrir Samad statement. You must not be overshadowed by unpopular remarks by Shahrir to wait until the price goes down below USD72.
Act now, and I believe the rakyaat will have high regards on you.
I hope to hear the good news on Monday.
It was supposed to be a transparent formula which is linked to a fixed subsidy, but somehow this formula got abandoned like everything else that the Sleepy Head promised.
This is Bolehland – where thieves promise to reform.
Yes, Najib must conside4r some reduction on fuel price now to inject some ‘ohmh’ to the depressive economy to cheer up the rakyat. Another 20sen reduction does not need much thinking!
yeah right, malaysian fuel subsidised @ 30sen a litre. and that also, it is tax-free in malaysia as we are an exporter.
how about hopping over to oklahoma city? oil is taxed in america, correct? at this 7-eleven in oklahoma city, regular RON92 gasoline is sold at US2.33 a US gallon, and that a US gallon equals 3.785 litres.
that makes US0.61 per litre and if at current exchange rate of RM3.50, that equals RM2.15 per litre. and this price is inclusive of taxation and all the other costs like refinery, transportation and commission!
yes, correct correct correct, the PUMP PRICE of Regular RON92 at 7_Eleven in Oklahoma City is at RM2.15 which is cheaper than our SUBSIDISED price of RM2.30 a litre.
That ain’t no subsidy! That’s CHEATING the BN way!
for latest gasoline prices at oklahoma city …
http://www.oklahomacitygasprices.com/
and oh er … by the way, as an exporter of oil, if ringgit weakens, it only mean that we make more profits, correct?
in such a scene, exporters stand to gain which was the reason why exporters loved it when ringgit was pegged at rm3.80.
so, the corrupt gomen stand to make but will the rakyat who are the consumers gain? this was expected earlier when i blogged about the expected excuses the gomen will come up with to determine the pump prices of gasoline, taking into account the weakening ringgit and therefore the rakyat will not stand to gain much out of it!!!
Not only should the price of petrol be reduced but the prices of all items that went up in connection with the increase should now be lowered.
After the petrol price has been increased, many dairy items’ prices have also been increased. Now, petrol price has been slowly reduced; however, those dairy items’ prices will still remain the same! Plus many other things which their prices have already increased will never drop anymore! Back to the end, rakyat will
still need to suffer.
I hope that our government can really carefully
study before implementing one plan. The chain reaction
is really killing!
In fact, I believe that many things’ prices should not be simply
increased. For example, rental charged by properties owners
or shop owners. There should be a control on this. You guys
can just go to any complexes or food stalls or hypermarkets
and ask those who rent shops. You will know that their rent
will be increased a lot every year! Once that happens, they
have no choice, but to increase the prices of what they sell.
Does this mean that I wil be able to ask my children’s school van operator to lower the fare from RM100 down to the RM80 previously. Or does this translate to paying RM3.50 for chicken rice from the current RM4.00? Pak Lah’s hope that businesses will lower the prices of goods and services is fantasy. FAT HOPES !
We have to wait for NTR to ask the answer from Mrs NTR first…
Who will be sponsoring her shopping habits ,should her purse are ‘affected’ by lowering prices of basic utilities and commodities. her network are truly enjoying extra bonuses from these and now you all want her to lower down these prices. Given the same opportunities, you are in her shoes, will you lower it ????
old habits are hard to die…. shopping her No.1 past time lah..
When petrol price is reduced,the government should ensure that retail prices of goods and services would be dropped too.Each time when price of petrol is revised upwards,retailers react immediately by raising their prices.However,when there is a downward adjustment of fuel price,business community have a thousand and one reason to maintain their prices.This is gross injustice done to consumers and the government should step in to honour its pledge to work for the people.
with najis in power i dread the worst for the nation. with his baggage of plunder, philandering and incompetence, this nation will only plunge deeper into abyss. you think aab is bad? just wait la
Now that the price of crude oil had fallen.We the rakyat have to help PATRONAS. During this hard times.
This will NAJIB,S statment on Monday.
Met for 4 hours and immediately increase by 78 cents ( 1.92 – 2.70)!
Then took two reductions to lower by 25 cents ( 15 + 10)!
Then to wait ONE month to lower another possible 12 cents!
Twenty four hours to increase 78 cents and THREE months to lower possible 37 cents!
That’s the mentality of the GOONS!
Masuk senang, keluar susah lah! Mahu jaga poket mah!
when the crude oil was high, it rocket to 45% up.
when it goes down, the minister told us that we must take care of the loss by the pump operator. What type of minister we have.
who can guarantee the barang-barang will go down even the price is down to previous price, the Goment just don’t care what we suffer. Damage already done, BN must be out and PR in.
Well Done the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
“relentless inflationary spiral hitting a 27-year high”
That a NEW record.
PM :Let people join Barisan directly, says PM (updated)
By JANE RITIKOS
KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister has mooted setting up a “new group” in Barisan Nasional to give direct membership to those who wish to participate in Barisan but do not fancy its component parties.
…………..
ANYONE INTERESTED ???
ANY COMMENTS ??
Those goons are busy with their respective party election. They are only concerned about not being elected rather than the current dismal social situation.
Once the price of goods and services have raised due to inflation, it is almost impossible for them to come down again eventhough the price of petrol has gone done!
Najis is only of standard 3 in his maths knowledge. Surely he doesn’t know what is the connections involved. His evil greed will only lead to accumulation of filthy lucre for himself. Hence no chance for fair reduction in oil price ever.
would he have the time to think about petrol prices? the post master posted text messages today. see MT
Sharil Samad consume vigra when he up the petrol price.
http://kerajaanrakyat.com/
Najis has no time to lower the fuel price, he is too busy handling another shocking allegation against him:
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/13687/84/
want to see some photos how Najib’s son spent our tax payer money indulging with foreign gilrs? here we go:
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/13688/84/
It is such mentality the Umno led government has been short changing rakyat for the past 51 years. 41% hike in a rush but turtle pace in reducing when it dip till the current USD78/barrel! Where’s the logic? Will the inflation comes down in drastic manner once the shot up? No way man! The rakyat has been taken for a ride far too long, and this Umno goons still thought we could be bullied like before! Go to hxll!
[deleted]
Sedar atau tidak, dalam pada semua menunggu pertukaran kerajaan kita sebenarnya telah memberi subsidi secara tak langsung kepada kerajaan Pak Lah dengan membayar harga minyak yang lebih dari sepatutnya.
Setakat artikel ini ditulis, harga minyak dunia sudah jatuh ke paras USD 78 setong . Kerajaan :place Malaysia pimpinan Pak Lah yang masih lagi dalam kekalutan politik sekali lagi membelakangkan kepentingan rakyat dengan tidak mengambil apa-apa tindakan yang drastik di atas penurunan harga minyak semasa dunia ini.
Janji telah ditabur dan dicanang kepada rakyat bahawa kerajaan akan memberi subsidi hanya 30 sen per liter kepada rakyat bermakna rakyat hanya akan dapat penjimatan harga minyak sebanyak 30 sen dengan setiap liter yang dibelanjakan untuk memenuhi tangki kenderaan masing-masing. Tapi adakah janji yang dibuat oleh kabinet Pak Lah itu relevan dengan keadaan semasa??Adakah ianya digunapakai oleh Menteri jaga harga minyak, Datuk Shahrir Samad?? Jika mengikut perkiraan mudah, dengan harga minyak sekarang sebenarnya membuatkan rakyat pula yang memberi subsidi kepada kerajaan.
Perkiraan mudahnya seperti di bawah :-
1 barrel(tong) = 159 liter
1 USD = RM 3.45 ( converter di sini )
harga minyak semasa = USD78 setong ( rujuk sini )
Dulu USD145 x 3.3 (Rate semasa) / 159 liter = RM3 – RM0.30 (Subsidi) =RM2.70
Skrg USD78 x 3.45 (Rate semasa) / 159 liter = RM1.69 – RM0.30 (Subsidi) = RM1.39
Kerajaan jual => RM2.45
Harga tanpa subsidi => RM1.69
Kita tanggung kerajaan = RM0.76 per liter.
Mengikut perkiraan mudah ini, harga minyak tanpa subsidi di Malaysia adalah RM1.69 seliter. Kerajaan menjual kepada rakyat dengan harga RM2.45 seliter. Bermakna rakyatlah yang memberi subsidi kepada kerajaan sebanyak 76 sen seliter . Berapa banyak agaknya kerajaan dapat dengan mengekalkan harga minyak RM2.45 sen seliter ini? Dan Pak Shahrir, menteri jaga harga minyak berkata bahawa harga minyak akan diturunkan kepada RM1.92 seliter jika harga jatuh ke paras USD 72 setong.
Dengan harga ini pun, rakyat masih lagi memberi subsidi kepada kerajaan sebanyak 23 sen. Siapa yang tolong siapa? rakyat ke yang tolong kerajaan atau pun kerajaan tolong rakyat??? Jangan asyik nak pergi melawat sana-sini, tapi rakyat dibiarkan sengsara menanggung kesan kenaikan melampau harga minyak beberapa bulan lalu.
….Renungkanlah!!!!!
p/s: edited version
It is sad that many Malaysians seem to think that cheap subsidised fuel as a birthright and it is even disturbing that PR is advocating the further reduction in fuel prices. Rather then question BN on their economic principles, I think PR needs to first seriously get their act together rather then go for cheap popularity stunts. Fuel sold at market price will make Malaysia more competitive in the long run!
But yes I agree that our fuel prices should be quick to react to global crude oil price changes. Nevertheless, we should be reminded that many of us are getting cash subsidies of RM625 per year and that itself amounts to 30 cents per liter in subsidy. My proposal – scrap the RM625 cash subsidy and let the fuel price float and be reviewed on a weekly basis.
bystander,
As far as I know, there has been no evidence on Najib’s involvement in the murder of the Mongolian lady. If you have any, care to share? All we have right now are just accusations but nothing to back it up with. For someone talking about human rights, democracy and professionalism, you seem to have easily forgotten one of the basis tenets of justice – innocence till proven guilty!
Greetings!
Looks at the situation, we dare to dream for lowering the petrol price now. If not we wish to know where are the places and whose being subsidized as we do not trust Najip who’s suspects behind those deed.
parajurit sarawak,
Your calculations on fuel prices are too simplistic and inaccurate. May I propose you do some proper research first next time? The calculations you posted do not take into consideration at all the cost of oil exploration/production, the cost of oil processing, the fact that not 100% of crude oil is turned to motor fuels etc. These factors significantly impact the price of fuels.
u can’t ask najis (just another crap) to change, bcos he wouldn’t. wasting time only. u must change the government. malaysian must act together with PR, to bring progress and justice….
najis will say, “I will look into it and reduce it next month. We can’t say that it will not shoot up again”.
Meanwhile, just imagine how much this gomen are sucking us as each day goes by. Sleepyhead is retiring soon, so need more money for honeymoon lah.
Kopi O last time 70 cts now $1.00; mee/mee hoon soup old price $3.00 now $4.50. Told all due petrol increased everything increased. Now petrol price dropping and hope can be back to old level or lower (better still – high hope); when ask towkay kopi shop wu decrease kopi O price? Told what go up no come down lah. We people in the street always lose out…haiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
“As far as I know, there has been no evidence on Najib’s involvement in the murder of the Mongolian lady. If you have any, care to share? All we have right now are just accusations but nothing to back it up with. For someone talking about human rights, democracy and professionalism, you seem to have easily forgotten one of the basis tenets of justice – innocence till proven guilty” quote imranj78
if you think so why no take the RPK case to open court instead ofyou put him under ISA? let the justice preview in court than using the ISA, “talking about human rights, democracy and professionalism, you seem to have easily forgotten one of the basis tenets of justice – innocence till proven guilty” that mean you are slapping your own face man..
to imranj78 that’s mean u are practicing double standard here ha..
Free RPK and all ISA detainees, charge all of them in open court if u think they are wrong or derimental to our country security.
This is call democracy.
abolish ISA that used century ago to comunist but now used to detained their own rival in politic. what ashame Bee-N government.
Najib is not going to reduce the oil price.He needs the money to prop up the stock market.What can his advisers offer? Nothing I think of except if he makes a popular decision it might save him but lead the country into ruins.!
YB,
Ask them to make the method of calculating the local pump prices public.
It should not be kept as a secret from us. That way, we would know with certainty what the price should be when it come to the period for price review.
Otherwise it will just be another con job from the bn government. “Lagi satu projek kera jantan bn” .
talking about high fuel prices, we must remember crude oil price will eventually go up; though through international market manipulations the price has been pushed up and down. The sad thing is our gomen’s reluctance to promote solar and wind power! I was told when Megaglomania was in power, UN had agreed to experiment the solar energy in Malaysia by jointly pay for half the cost of installation. This was not encouraged then because we were pushing for IPPs operations in the normal form.
With our sunshine all year round, we should be pioneering this resource of renewal energy!
With twisted objective in focus, the natural strength of the country is squandered for more expensive input to suit the objective of a group of cronies. Here we Malysians are pretty smart and generally rather blind, hence the repeat performances over the last 30 years! [The first 20 years were still reasonable]
The Half Past Government will find every excuse in the book to keep petrol price at RM2.45. When it is at USD120, they said wait until it drops below USD100, then when it drops to USD90+, wait till it stabilises.
Now it is USD70+, what other excuses they have..?? I bet they will say wait till end of the month, it it goes up again..then yay..BN will rejoice..cos no need to bring the prices down…
The rakyat can only hope and hope ..there is nothing we can do…Bodohwi may want to launch another Commision, “Commission to Look at Lower Oil Prices” before he leaves.
What a stupid irresponsible govt.
UMNO elections are more important than national welfare
It sickens me to the core !!!!
Hell..what a way to start a Sunday morning
UMNO is bankrupt and needs the money desperately to pay debts. They will do everything possible to delay the reduction of petrol prices.
At this level of price, Malaysian are getting taxed for petrol. Welcome to semi-deregulated pricing. I have seen all sort of pricing schemes all over the world and semi-deregulation is probably the worst choice of all.
Mind you, I am not against taxes for gas use. We waste too much anyway. Our public transport is pathetic and its really not necessary. I am just against taxing transportation to fund cronies…
World crude oil prices are not down for economic reasons. The oil party, the Redpublicans are on the nose and that requires some fast footwork. Oil will always be over $50 a barrell and will return to that benchmark sooner rather than later.
The US has one of the worlds largest reservees of oil. It is third largest in terms of its proven deposits much of which it strategically keeps in the ground whilst it continues to control production in places like Saudi Arabia and the Gulf excluding Iran.
In addition the US also owns or controls distribution of oil and its distribution routes worldwide. So if you want cheap oil make sure you don’t have a republican in the office.
Oil at $130 was a clever tool to force China to free up its foreign reserves which was seen as a threat to the west. They succeeded to a point. China is also one of the worlds largest consumers of oil not a net producer and it fell victim to that move.
When after coaxing it refused to free float the Yuan oil was used as a two pronged tool to attack its foreign reserves. The other being its holdings in US Treasuries. The financial system collapse in the US serrves the use of the second tool against China’s holdings of foreign reserves and a fixed Yuan.
Perhaps you should take a wider and more analytical view of the world. Otherwise you will have Lim Kit Siang, Anwar and Theresa in government with raja Petra Kamaruddin as foreign minister. Then you would really be in hell.
Would rather have LKS, AI, T and RPK in government then to be scorned by the whole world as having a mickey mouse government that’s in power right now.
Malaysia is a global joke courtesy of UMNO.
When it comes to consumers prices msia is famous for “what goes up never comes down”. Bringing down the fuel price will benefit only vehicle owners temporarily. DOnt expect prices for consumer items to come down with it. But do expect consumer prices to go up when the next round of fuel price increase comes around. I am no economic expert. WHat the bloody gomen need to do is to set a base line of crude oil price to work on. I reckon US80 is a good value. This way pump price can be buffered and stabilised for longer periods, maybe needed to be revised every 2-3 years. This will also stabilise consumer prices as as well. Believe me, i work for the Oil and gas industry. I know the oil firms budget their expenditures on only US20.
YB,
I believe that the 2008 hike in the ELECTRICITY tariffs should also be reviewed.
We, Malaysians are so blessed compared to many Asian countries. Therefore, good governance is of paramount importance.
Most certainly, the PETROL pricing, ELECTRICITY tariffs and the recent 2009 BUDGET should be reviewed and revised – taking into account relevant considerations for the best position to be adopted for Malaysia and not to be based on political grounds.
bclee.
Did I mention anywhere that I strongly support ISA in its current form? No right? So your unsubstantiated claim that I am practising double standard is without any basis and totally slanderous. In my view, we still the ISA but in a revised form that strongly limits and curtails the duration of any detention without trial.
lakshy,
The method of calculating fuel pump prices is available in the open. I guess you want to be spoon fed with the formula? May I suggest you do some research through legitemate channels rather then making unsubstantiated claims on the use of `a secret formula’.
waterfrontcoolie,
Our subsidy mentality esp. on electricity and fuel makes it unattractive for any company to strongly invest in solar energy. Why invest in solar electricity when you can buy electricity from the grid at such subsidised prices? Similarly, who won’t ESSO, Shell etc invest in NGV? Because the subsidised NGV prices set by the government will make them loose their money. That’s why all fuel subsidies must go but it seems PR is more interested in getting votes rather then looking at the long term interest of the nation.
bongkk,
I am in the oil and gas industry as well but your claim that oil and gas firms budget their expenditures on only USD20/bbl crude price might be a true a decade ago, but it will no longer be realistic to maintain the same now.
A few thing have happed lately: Aussie dollar is now RM 2.3 or so. So make sure price of milk products, wheat based products, beef come down accordingly. What about transport costs for goods which have been hiked 30%?
yeah, why is rpk charged under sedition act? why didnt najib sue him under civil? take him to court and forced him to produce evidence. be man enough to fight him in court rather than hiding and using police to do his dirty work. [deleted]
“In my view, we still the ISA but in a revised form that strongly limits and curtails the duration of any detention without trial. “quote mranj78
what ? u still want to revised the so call ISA ha..a..lomak
how good you change it is still bad mah!
I think u also have a retarded mindset.
Damage already done. No matter how much the petrol price is decreased now, the prices of consumer goods will not be lowered. Only businessmen are making more money now. The coffee shop increased a cup of coffee by 20sen when Bodohwi announced 41% jumped in petrol price will not lower the his coffee price even the petrol price is lowered.
Be End has screwed up the country’s economy!!!!!
bclee,
I will not lower myself to your level and start name calling as you have done. Lets keep this debate healthy and constructive shall we?
I disagree that ISA cannot be revised. Infact it can be improved to focus on matters that truly threathen national security such as terrorism. Loopholes should be plugged to prevent its misuse and allowable duration for detention before trial be firmly limited. Similarly, authorization on the use of ISA should not rest on only on the PM or the Home Minister. Keep an open mind, understand the true purpose of ISA and be constructive. You will find that ISA can be turned into an act that can co-exist with principles of human right and justice. Do you think the governments of US and UK would have followed through with similar acts if it serves no purpose for the safety of their nations?
turun ? mana boleh turun !!! rugi lah aku : dolla bin umno
harga runcit C4 berapa hah ?
We are all waiting for petrol prices to drop. Hey, government, you hear that? Petronas is our cookie jar, not yours!
The sleepy flipflop lame duck guy listened to his stupid bum in the Domestic trade and consumer dept to increase the pump price by 78 sen in TWENTY FOUR HOURS. He thought he did a “great” job.
Now the crude has dropped below $90. What is that stupid bum adviser going to do??. Pretending or trying to delay so that they can milk more money from the rakyat??.
This bum has shown his true colours after becoming a minister in charge of Trade and Consumers affairs. He iscan be best described as worst than a chameleon.
When price of crude oil increased, so did Tenaga Nasional Bhd! I wonder if Tenaga Nasional Bhd will lower it’s price now since crude oil has come down.
Don’t dream……for Tenaga Nasional Bhd, what goes up, never come down. :(
what? only lower the price of petrol? talk about having low expectations… with nothing done now, i think most malaysians will lose their jobs and unemployment will be at an all time high. without jobs now, who cares about lower petrol prices.
the effect of higher petrol prices has taken effect. Higher food prices, higher, electricity prices, higher bus fares, higher train fares… you name it, it is more expensive now. If the price of petrol is cut down more, do you think that the prices of such things will also follow suit to go down? in your dreams!!!
a total overhaul is in place starting by cutting the head of the biggest leach in the country.