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So the price of petrol in Malaysia has just gone up by RM0.78 per litre. That's an increase of nearly 40%! I've been monitoring the price of crude oil this past few weeks and it wasn't much of a surprise that the government will reduce the subsidy. Just a couple of weeks ago, the price of crude oil reached an all-time high of $137 per barrel. Currently it's decreased a bit to about $120. This is very high if you consider that just 3-4 years ago, it was just $20-$30 per barrel. All sorts of factors contribute to the price of oil, and I don't really understand much about it. Heck I don't understand much about my course either sometimes but that's another story.

Everywhere in the world people are affected by the increase in oil, so it was inevitable that the price in Malaysia would also increase. However, I believe that the manner that the government handled it was very poor. Very very poor. They keep saying contradicting things. One moment they say that the foreigners will be charged extra for petrol and only in August will there be any changes to the structure of the subsidies, and then *poof* out of nowhere came the news that the price will be increased that very night. But then again, they've done this before. One minute the parliament won't be dissolved tomorrow, and the next minute *drumroll* it will be dissolved tomorrow. Such lies are what we don't need especially now, when there are many economic problems throughout the world. Even the UK and US are feeling a slight pinch.

Somehow these people haven't learned from their past mistakes. How do you expect people to trust you if you keep lying to them? Do we need an indecisive leader or a determined one? Yes, of course humans make mistakes, but if you make too many mistakes in your job, maybe it means you're really not capable of handling it.

Like I said before, the price increase is unavoidable, but 78 sen is just too much and too sudden. No steps have been taken to let the rakyat prepare for what was going to hit them. Is this a ‘padan muka sapa suruh x undi kitorg majoriti time pilihanraya dulu’ gesture? If they do want to increase it by that much, they should've done so gradually, little by little. This abrupt news caused massive traffic jams at the petrol stations. And people even got angry with the petrol pumps that were closed due to them being out of oil, accusing them of hiding petrol so that they could sell them at a higher price. How chaotic.

The government should also ensure that our public transport system is quite efficient and covers the routes conveniently. If people complain about the Underground trains in London, then I couldn't imagine how they'd react to the KTM Komuter in Malaysia. Now don't even mention the buses.

It's very frustrating when the government tell us not to waste our money, to spend wisely etc, but at the same time, they're not doing what they preach. Having private jets to take them anywhere they want, spending a lot of money and sending a lot of people to unnecessary ‘study’ trips abroad and other absurd expenditures. I'm not saying we shouldn't learn from others, but do it wisely and remember that you're using the people's money.

In saying all this, I do not agree with people who think that Petronas has a right to subsidise petrol, that most of their profit should be spent on the people. Yes, Petronas is drilling oil in Malaysia, and yes, Petronas is a Malaysian company. However, they do need to pay those who work their socks off for them as well. Even Petronas's employees are affected by the price hike, well not the very high-ranked ones of course. Now let's not talk about the money getting into some politicians' pockets because that would just drag this entry. It's Petronas's profit and they have the right to use them as they please. To put it in a rude way, ingat Petronas ni syarikat bapak kau ke? Well, maybe there's an act somewhere that says Petronas is the company of everyone's fathers or something along that line. If that's the case, then I humbly apologize.

There's no doubt that this price increase will have a domino effect on all the price of goods since everyone is dependant on the fuel to power their means of transportation. I just hope that those in power know what they're doing and help those that will really be affected by all this. On the positive side, at least there'll be a little bit less pollution if many people don't use their vehicles if it's really not necessary to do so. But hey, I'm just hoping.