05 June 2008

Effects of Raising Fuel Price

Ole!

The most obvious effect when the gov announced the price hike, everyone jammed the nearest petrol station.





Heh, these pics are not the worst yet!

I heard a few friends lamented their plan of getting their own car are forced to be shelfed because of the extra cost for the petrol. Some says they would not be driving that frequently unless seriously needed. Some may take public transports, while some will revert back to the good old days, walk.

Before I got my car license, I'm quite used to walk to places around, to the nearby commercial area, to the closest LRT station, and to college.

Walk to Carrefour, work-place or to get my meal.... ~1km (~10 mins).


Walk to Wangsa Maju LRT station. 1.75km. (~20 mins)


Walk to college, 3.3km. (~45 mins)


These 3 diagrams are mapped according to my usual route I walk. I guess I can do it for the first 2, but for no.3.... I have to sacrifice quite some time getting up early in the morning and walk to college.
Also, those routes I walk usually are adjacent to the main roads, so inhaling those exhaust gases will do no good to my health.

Another alternative could be hybrid, or green car? Many car manufacturers are eying on this trend, a greener car which uses less fuel, less gas emission, alternative fuel and alternative engines.
Too bad Malaysians doesn't really aware the future of these cars, so far I only saw Honda Civic Hybrid on sale, but none on the road.

Honda Civic Hybrid (it's wheel rims are different than normal Civics)


Toyota Prius (one of the pioneer of hybrid car)


BMW Hydrogen 7


Lexus LS 600h


Ultimately, the most ecology & economic-friendly car, brought to you by a familiar cartoon character!

Needless to say more? Flintstone! LOL!




Increasing the petrol price is just the beginning of further headaches and nightmares to the people.

The electricity tariff also made changes in order to cope with the fuel price hike. Although it's stated only less than 50% of the people will have to pay more for the electric bill, unfortunately my side will have to pay more for upcoming electricity bills because the monthly usage surpasses the rate, which is lower than 200kWh.

Too bad most Malaysia's power plants are fossil fuel power plants, so the generation of electricity will have to spend more on the fuels too. So in order to cope with the increase, the electricity price will go up as well. Ultimately, the people are the victim.

We do have hydroplants but the power generated is not enough for general use.


No, we haven't got any nuke power plants here yet. I doubt we'll will ever build one. The locals are afraid of nuclear meltdown, "miscarriage" of nuclear waste, etc. Well actually nuke power plant can supply the most efficient electricity with just a little amount of resources. Anyhow people are still skeptical because it is known for it's risk.


Aside of the domino effect on the electricity, soon the people will be paying more for daily expenses, such as food, necessities, transportation etc.

The chain effect starts off with the logistic and goods transportation part. Obviously these sectors rely on petrol a lot as running the lorries across the country aren't cheap nowadays! So there will be another price hike in the sectors, which will further "attack" sectors closer to the end-consumer such as the merchants, businessman, and entrepreneurs.

Everyone will be raising the price again, which makes life for people more difficult. All the goods are getting more and more expensive, and yet the salary, wages and income still remain constant.
The government promised the money from reducing the subsidy will be use for the good of the people, and I tell you, 50% this will be a "blank cheque" 空头支票.
They previously used the same reason again and again during previous price hikes, and so far the transportation system has improved or met up to the people's standard.

Talk about public transport, do compare KL's public transport commuter map, to the London Tube and Tokyo Metro....







Compare to those labyrinth links, KL's transit is just a fragment of those transit systems.
I heard there's plan on extending the KL's transit, it is said a few years ago, but until now none of the projects are carried out actually. Everything remains status quo.

The proposed KL's new transit map.


If this mega-project is done, and the gov raises the petrol price, at least the people still got alternative for commuting. I guess people would rather squeeze in the commuter train, rather than wasting the petrol money caught in a terrible traffic jam.
But then, this is just an ideal KL, unfortunately currently the government is too busy to bother bout this plan. As they said, their main priority is the party's interest (which is personal interest), rather than the people and the nation's interest.

Sigh..... this is not the end yet. Rumours are circulating, there may be another price hike very soon in August, and that time the price of the petrol could hit RM4/L from the current RM2.7/L.

If that really happens, Abdullah and the government should be THROWN OUT FROM THEIR OFFICE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!

3 comments:

  1. totally agree with you on the 'Abdullah and the government should be THROWN OUT FROM THEIR OFFICE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!'
    No!!!........ Not getting a car too...
    and yes, they should improve the public transportation system....

    (checking my bank book..im poor now)

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  2. well although abdullah is an ass...but i read an article by Raja Petra Kamaruddin in Malaysia Today which made me feel that its not only abdullah who should be blamed. This is a result of a long strain of incompetence and greed of the politicians of this country.

    All in all, i await the day when Anwar walks in.Hopefully his plan to break UMNO can be carried out. Then we shall all hope to see him fulfill one of his most ridiculed promises(to bring the price of fuel DOWN!).

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  3. Joshua,

    Yes, it may be so unfortunate that Abdullah taken the job at the wrong timing, so that he's been blamed for everything.
    But sometimes his attitude just isn't right, like sleeping during functions or meetings....

    As for Anwar, he's definitely going to smash the political scene sooner or later. I just hope that he could do things accordingly to what he said.

    Lisa,
    "Congratz", you're the 4th person I heard can't get car because of the price hike!

    You should know who to vote for in the next election huh? :P

    ReplyDelete