Petrol hike!

If you didn't already know, the petrol price has gone up from RM1.92 to RM2.70 a litre effective today. Well, in my opinion i think it is a good thing.. but also a very bad thing.

The good thing :

1. People won't be so dependent on the government for subsidies.. thus they will learn how to conserve energy, think twice before they decide to drive a near destination.
2. They will be forced to adjust to the changes which is a very good change so they won't be so spoon-fed! Malaysians are so spoon fed! Everything needs to be provided in front of them before they take action. Look at the civil sector and the malaysian education for a good example.
3. The government will be able to spend that extra money for better uses eg.improving the public transportation systems, healthcare (hopefully they will!)
4. When protectionism is taken away, they will learn to be more independent! ( economics weih.. haha!)

The bad thing is :

1. Inflation will be at the all time high, prices will go escalating even more due to the EXCUSE ppl give! "Petrol price increase lah.. surely cost increase. We have no choice but to pass it onto the consumers". A bowl of noodles now cost RM4 AVERAGE or higher! Nowadays, its hard to get a meal for RM5. A mere income of RM2000 will not even be sufficient. Imagine 5 years down the road. Don't want to imagine what might happen. :S
2. The already bad state of corruption might be worst with the "extra" money. Some ppl might want to pocket it for themselves.
3. The question of whether the subsidies are given to the right people will be lingering. It might reach the wrong hands which makes matters worst.

Nowadays its very hard to save because of all these escalating costs. When i go out, RM10 now is hardly enough to get me anything compared to few years back. Just look how much inflation has caused our purchasing power to fall! In a few years time, RM10 will be like RM1. And the government says our inflation remains at 4%. Yeah right. Twice more likely!

Petrol prices increasing is indeed inevitable. It has to happen sooner or later.. its just the matter of when and how. Perhaps, the government should have given people some time to adjust before breaking the news so suddenly. Perhaps people would have taken it in stride. We should still be thankful though, we're still the second cheapest country for petrol after brunei. In UK, its like triple the price! Thank God for everything you have!! At least you still have petrol!!! :)

Well, i guess that means less going out, less shopping, less spending which means more money to save!! ;) I hope. Haha. Its going to be tough!