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Thursday, June 5, 2008

The Impact of Petrol Price Increase/ 燃油涨价:政府须正视人民的诉求

国际石油价格不断暴涨,自去年5月以来涨幅高达100%。石油价格不断攀升,在经济市场掀起骨牌效应,百物涨价是必然的现象,无论是工业或住家用户都不能免受冲击。虽然油价调升是大势所趋,但让我感到失望的是,政府的燃油补贴政策却无法真正使低收入群受惠。我国近年来的油棕、橡胶等原产出口行情高涨,政府其实可以将这方面的收入用在各项大限度惠利民众的措施,缓和人民所承受的涨价压力。

去年的今天,石油价格涨至每桶60至70美元。今天,每桶石油已飙升至135美元。国际石油价格每涨一美元,作为原油出口国之一的大马每年就能赚取2亿5千万令吉。以这两年的石油行情来推算,国油公司应该大唱丰收,而政府应该拥有绝对足够的流动资源,为低收入民众实施现金补贴。

我国新燃油价格每公升从RM1.92仙调升至RM2.70(涨40%),虽然车主将享有625令吉现金回扣,但却微薄得很。如今国能已率先发出电费涨价的警告,面对种种的涨价负担,每年1千500令吉现金回扣才算合理。燃油涨价肯定牵一发动全身,生产、物运、销售成本水涨船高,两年前一碗粿条RM3.00,今天至少卖RM3.80或RM4.00。民怨已沸腾,在生活费指数沦为主要的政治课题以前,政府必须有所行动。人民接着将留意和观察政府如何应付通膨。若处理不当势必触怒全民,而在未来流失更多选票。

我一直认为大马政府增建过多和超支预算的基建设施。许多小学、中学和大学校舍、新诊所和医院规模庞大外观形同度假村,不切实际。政府冀建造宏伟建筑物来讨好人民,却忽略了服务的本质。以医药保健领域为例,医疗服务的素质才是致胜因素。这是为何在我担任卫长期间,没有接纳建议和批准增建新的中央医院。相反的,我把部门获得的拨款和资源用来提升和改善现有的医院及诊所基建、增设特定疾病护理中心如洗肾中心、增置必需仪器和医务人员培训。我认为,人民要的是高效和有素质的医疗服务,而非富丽堂皇的医院。因此,政府必须严正看待这项弊病,加以纠正以免平白浪费公帑。

我们寄望政府能落实更多新颖但实际、体恤民意的政策,以协助人民抗涨价和通膨冲击。
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The much awaited announcement has finally arrived. Petrol price at the international market have gone up by 100% since May last year. Everyone has to bite the bullet because of the increase of petrol and its impact on all industries and household. However, I’m disappointed that government’s subsidy to the lower income group is a bit too little to tie them over the increase cost of living. The government should be able to do more with the increased revenue from petroleum and export of other commodities – oil palm and rubber.

Last year at this time, petrol was hovering at about US$60 – 70 per barrel. Today, it has gone up to US$135 per barrel. For every US one dollar increase in oil at international market, Malaysia as an exporting country will get RM250 million per year. There should be a bumper profit for Petronas last year and this year and the government should be able to subsidize the lower income group in terms of cash. Presently, cash rebate of RM625 works out to be only about RM52 per month which is a pittance, considering that petrol price having gone up from RM1.92 per litre to RM2.70 (40%). A cash rebate of at least RM1500 per year would be a more appropriate figure since Malaysians have to face higher electricity tariff. With it, there is definitely increase in cost of production, cost of goods both essential and non essential will definitely go up. Two years ago, a bowl of kuay teow costs about RM3.00 but it has now increased to RM3.80/4.00.

So, the government needs to do more before the cost of living becomes a major political issue. Rakyat will be watching how government will tackle inflation. Failure to address this issue which hits all Malaysian and cost the government a lot of good will and votes from the rakyat. I always feel that the Malaysia government overbuilt and over budgeted on building of infrastructure. A lot of primary schools, secondary schools and universities, new clinics and hospitals look like resort. The government wants to impress the rakyat with imposing buildings, forgetting that in the case of healthcare, it is the quality of services that counts. This explained why during my tenure as a Minister, I would never consider building a new general hospital but maximize and make the best use of the limited resources to upgrade the existing healthcare facilities, equipments and trainings. Government must start somewhere to curb this wastage to avoid it becoming worse and more public fund goes to waste.

We can only hope that the government can come out with more innovative and caring policies and strategies to assist the rakyat that are affected by the increase of petrol price and inflation.

22 comments:

sagat said...

Undilah BN(Barang Naik)serba serbi naik!pak lah memang suka buat surprise. election-12 surprise!petrol price surprise!lepas ni apa lagi Pak Lah???PRU13 nanti kitorang wat surprise kat Pak Lah & co plak,amacam ok??

笑看风云 said...

Dear DR. Chua,
finally it start to go up.
our petrol/ diesel is still cheap???

the businessman and the people be inform how the government fix the price of petrol and diesel for business projection and cost eg. if crude is US$ 125.00 petrol price will be around RM 2.70/L
if every US$10 of crude + or - will come to around what petrol price.???

the government say our petrol price is cheap????compare with other ASIA country except Brunei

my personal view
1) Quality --- our diesel is lower grade. EURO 3 or 4 comply ????
2) our road tax.?
3) cost of car. eg. my friend told me cammy in ARAB cost around RM 90,000. our RM 180,000. say save RM90,000+ int say 5000 RM95000/6000
you can put petrol free for
15 years.
3) toll ??i think the statistic should be base on local per capital income % of that in his daily spending.
4) more expensive tyre than other
5) car parts more expensive.

6) our pay load of truck?
7) our system, JPJ, police, puspacom, enviromental.dewan bandaraya.lembaga licence bord.

compound system on car and truck
8) more expensive interest rate on local car.proton perdua, myvi-----

did i miss something???

i rather let the toll increase than grand them extension, supply and demand if too expensive you would't buy or used at least reduce.

" long pain is worst than short pain"

bye

Anonymous said...

Malaysia is a country gifted with lots of natural resources but managed by a group of incompetence leader. we are an oil producing country, yet, petrol/fuel price has to follow international market. PM said the government can't afford to continue subsidizing fuel cost.

i wonder what's wrong? where are the huge Petronas profit/earnings being utilized? what i understand since schooling days, everything about Petronas is under OSA = the rakyat has no right to question. why?

this historic move to increase petrol price by 78 sen creates a benchmark for other daily necessities and service costs to adjust in order to absorb the consequential effect of fuel cost hike. guess what will happen to cost of roti prata, nasi lemak, taxi fare, bus fare, etc, etc.

i'm a supporter of BN all these while but now, i think if election would to be held now or later this year, i'll join millions other malaysian to let the opposition party to have a chance to run this country!

I'm serious and i think they are millions of other voters will do the same.

So, if Pak Lah cannot handle the situation now, come-on, let other leader try. don't snatch or rob our already thin pocket!!

fellow malaysians, what do you think? major over-haul required!!

Pussy Cat said...

I wonder how much money the government wastes for all the grandiose projects?

And also how much money do the ministers make from these wasteful projects?

Idham - Johor Baru

Pluboy2 said...

Dr Chua,

You were in the government before, we think you should know you must never bite the hand that feed you, right?

Just so that you know, those who voted for BN must be blamed now. Serve them right! Who susah now? The rakyat!!

No, Pak Lah isnt going to be susah. Cos his expenses is paid by everyone of us! And who pay OUR expenses?

We do!

Pearls said...

We all know the maths of this oil price thingy and no matter what the government have to say, they cannot lie their way through this time.

You say got bumper profit, Tun say got so many ways to tackle this price increase thingy, Wan Azizah also got say, countries that produce oil just like us are paying cheap price and there are ways to go about handling this petrol price... Sigh...but for some very strange reasons, our lousy cabinet cannot see, understand and act accordingly!

What is worse is that some trying to be clever but actually very stupid ministers can come up with the mother of all stupid remarks/explanations!! Change lifestyle?? These ministers should start this trend then!

I say this is shameful and disgusting!! The government has failed big time.. Next round, it will be a change of government for sure!!

Lysendar said...

Dear Dr. Chua,

I know that lot of people will be very angry with the increase in the price of petrol. However, on the other hand, i know that government has no choice but to increase the price of petrol as the increase in the international market. But, as a country with national car, it will be definitely be affected.
As a point of view as a normal rakyat, i don't agreed with amount increase. Why can't the government increase may be 30 cents or 50 cents? I know the government the situation of the economic in Malaysia. I know increase in the price will reduce in the subsidy of the government, but on the other, it will affect the whole national, not just the small amount of number of people. PM said in the press interview, he know that increase in the price will make people unhappy and he can't pleased everybody. I think he wrong already, it should be increase in the price will make ALL people unhappy, if he didn't increase the price, he CAN PLEASED Everybody. May God bless us.......

Starmandala said...

Dr Chua, you gained my respect for the dignified and candid way you handled your sex video scandal. I've heard rumours that some people with interests in the pharma business were unhappy with your refusal, as health minister, to play along with their games. Indeed, from talk I hear, you seem like one of the few BN politicians worth his or her salary. Which makes me wonder why you still believe MCA can be resurrected. I for one won't give a hoot if MCA and MIC vanish completely from the radar - in fact, more Malaysians than ever are now praying for the rapid demise of BN! Perhaps you will be doing yourself and your constituents a good turn by leaving the BN. If you don't like the idea of joining DAP or PKR, then go it alone as an independent. Wishing you all the best.

I swear said...

In US, 1 gallon = USD4. 1 gallon = 4.546 litres. So in US 1 litre = RM2.82, the price oil oil without "subsidy". Malaysia 1 litre = RM2.70 with RM0.30 "subsidy".

1 barrel = 159 litres. Conversion is 46% into petrol balance 54% into other oil products. 1 barrel = USD124 (RM400). 1 barrel or 159 litres get 73.14 litres at 46% conversion rate. 46% of RM400 = RM184. Avg cost per litre = RM184/73.14 = RM2.52/litre before refining cost. I do not think refining cost is RM.18 per litre.

Data not from me but from other experts but surely someone is telling a big lie. No prizes who's the LIAR is.

Can Dr Chua spread the truth that there has never ever oil subsidy in Malaysia. There has only been lower profits for Petronas for lower prices of oil sold to the rakyat.

tim said...

why now only say :P

Meiyen said...

Do you think we should all go rah! rah! rah! like the opposition?
(meiyenn.blogspot.com)

myenvelope said...

Bottom line is, Pak Lah over committed too many Korek Doors.

politicsisfun said...

People should be more rational and not emotional when dealing with such situations. Judging from the attitudes of fellow malaysians who jam up the streets and line up to buy fuel for hours the day before, THAT IS NOT RATIONAL. Think straight people. Surely there are better ways to deal with the situation. Leaders and elected MPs (hey you Pakatan people get together and think of something!) should brainstorm and figure out ways to help the rakyat alleviate the problem. Now this is the time to prove yourselves!

KIMHO8 said...

Mainkan politik seperti main masak-
masak,

kerajaan yang rasuah memang suka medesak.

Ubah gaya hidup anda beramalan jimat
cermat,

bilakah riwayat aneh negara ini boleh
tamat.

Unknown said...

sabar2, apa hongkie123 cakap tu menarik. elok kita ketengahkan semua ni dengan aman.

NEIL said...

Hi,Dr, This gov't is going crazy.No wonder they are being called by all sort of names.I tell you what they do now will be decided at the ballot box only.The more everything goes up, the more likely chance of the BM going DOWN.Will see!!!

Simon Wee said...

From sleep walking to a Zombie PM

The last time he was the sleep walking PM after winning a landslide election.

Now it seems he has become a Zombie PM after losing the 2/3 majority.

Why a Zombie PM?

Sample these:

While he is fully awake, he listens to Zaid Ibrahim.

Outcome?

The Government decided to pay "compensations" to the judges sacked by Dr Mahathir.

Repercussion?

The judges were sacked after two tribunal hearings which also involved Commonwealth judges including one from Singapore. Since this is a rule and order society, if there is right to be rectify, get a tribunal to do it and not arbitrarily doing it just because Zaid Ibrahim, a lawyer says s0.

While he is fully awake he listens to Shahrir.

Outcome?

Just because Shahrir said so, the petrol subsidies were almost totally removed today (Wednesday).

Repercussion?

The whole country was jammed up Wednesday by vehicles queuing to buy petrol just to save money. But what about the oil wasted waiting for their turns at the pumps, all because of policy stupidity.

Since oil subsidies have been going on for years, why can't the government staggered the increase.

Maybe the Zombie listens but don't think.

Lee said...

I agree with antares that you are one of the few BN Ministers who are actually qualified to carry out their jobs.What a pity you have to leave.I believe you are relevant and can still contribute to the country.How about leaving the MCA and joining one of the multiracial parties in the opposition?

Camon said...

Dr.,
Just received an interesting sms from a friend..... Could you care to comment on this????
Real Petrol price by Oil Producing Countries:
Our 'piggy brain' govt always compared our petrol to non oil-producing countries like Singapore and Thailand but not do the comparison with other oil producing countries like below : Check for yourself:
UAE RM 0.68/litre
Eygpt RM 1.03/litre
Bahrain RM 0.87/litre
Qatar RM 0.68/litre
Kuwait RM 0.67/litre
Saudi RM 0.38/litre
Iran RM 0.35/litre
Brunei RM 1.10/litre
Ngeria RM 0.32/litre
TurkmenistanRM 0.25/litre
Venezuela RM 0.16/litre
MALAYSIA RM 2.70/litre

Is this the truth or a complete lies???? When you want to make comparison ... please compare orange to orange and not orange to durian.... I wonder how long the rakyat is going to be conned by the BN govt. You should consider yourself lucky to be out of this present govt otherwise I do not know how you are going to bluffffff us again...... You should also thanks your enemy for tape-recording you .... otherwise you would also talking rubbish for us to believe..... comparing our lucky star with Singapore or Thailand....begging for a space to survive....NOW you can throw stone at your UMNO master... who cares??

Francis Lui said...

It just doesnt make any sense, when Malaysia is Net Exporter and the Government complaining about the Global Oil Price increases.

Globally, Petronas 2007 ranked 121 as the richest company in the world. You can judge yourself http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/snapshots/6418.html
and I don't see any reason why our government should make so much of noise pertaining to global oil price. Common sense can tell Petronas makes more money when the global price shoot up, despite of all those exploration cost and etc.

Now our petrol cost more than Net Importer Indonesia, and why Indonesia's petrol is cheaper and I think government must give a good reason.

I am pretty sure we NEED CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT in order to send a new signal. BN yet to learn to listen to the RAKYAT from the previous election.

cinabaru said...

dear dr,
Please help those who own NAZA RIA. They were not given fair deal in terms of subsidy and rebate. Most of them r middle income groups who have a big family. Naza Ria is a locally produced vehicle and also the cheapest MPV in Malaysia. But their road tax and fuel consumption r the highest amongs all private vahicles. So they r the most affected group with the increase of fuel price. thank you

NEIL said...

Dr,The recent rise in price of non-subsidised rice has driven most malaysians up the wall and compounded by the devastating fuel hike, it's the bitterest pill to swallow in decades.The gov't had decided on a fuel hike of 40 per cent on petrol and 60 per cent,disel.While politicians may argue over how best to solve the fuel hike problem,the lower income group would be suffering the harsh realities of survival on a slim budget.Even Sarawak being the oil producing state is reeling from price hike and also lagging behind in infrastructure and amenities.The race to ensure subsidies in whatever forms reach the low and medium income group,rural poor communities,hard core poor,and those with special needs to alleviate their hardship.Now is the time for action as words would be meaningless to the hungry and the destitute.Now is the time to walk the talk.

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