Malaysians reeling from soaring costs - 09 June 2008

Millions in Malaysia are already facing the harsh reality of higher fuel prices just days after the government removed long-standing subsidies which had once put the country's fuel prices among the cheapest in Asia.

Tony Birtley reports from Kuala Lumpur.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• malaysia
• fuel
• price
• hike
• oil
• and
• gas
• tony
• birtley
• aljazeera

[hijazzains]

Another thing to blame is rampant corruption among Malaysia's ruling politicians.

Malaysians may live it hard but our Prime Minister has a $60 million mansion in Perth and a yatch in Turkey not to mention government contracts exclusively given relatives and friends of government politicians.

[fwildly]

What America does is none of our concern.

Malaysian's government is solely to blame. We haven't had a competent, accountable, or capable cabinet since the 80s.

[fwildly]

You are giving that as a reason why we should no demand for a transparent government? Because it doesn't exist anywhere else, so we should stop wishing for it? Weak...totally weak...

Yeah, there are people out there who can't even afford food, yet Petronas spends millions every month on an orchestra that only the rich can afford to attend. Our ministers still go on holidays paid for by the state

Why do you think people are unhappy at the government?

[fwildly]

Why do you insist on bringing the US into this? Like I already said, its totally irrelevant.

So what if US didn't invade Iraq? It won't bring back the billions squandered or stolen away by the BN government. It won't erase 2 decades of misrule by a government that has divided this country along racial lines.

Which is why I said its totally irrelevant. I think the invasion was a big mistake too, but thats totally beside the point here.

[jems84kl]

and nope im not a BN supporter as im not a malaysian but living in KL therefore i look at all the parties. i like how u assume things. yes the price is not cheap but like everyone in the world, we have to adapt. its a pain in the arse but come on, there are loads of ppl who r less unfortunate then us..they cant even afford bread?????? focus on the future instead of looking at 'what ifs' unless its what if US didnt invade and kill thousands in iraq?

[jems84kl]

do u know that there are ppl out there who cant even afford food and ur worried about putting petrol into ur car that is still subsidised unlike ppl say in the UK where its very expensive to live in and petrol prices there r ridiculus not to mention taxes on cars and zoning charges. everywhere is having an oil problem, not just malaysia. isnt it better that they spend the money on areas like education or help with the food crises? and plz, where in the world is there a transparent gov?

[fwildly]

I'm guessing you must be a BN supporter or maybe even a member yourself.

The price is NOT cheap. Petrol here is actually more expensive than in Singapore if you were to factor in income and purchasing power. Also, the price is certainly the most expensive of all net petroleum exporters.

They only have no choice because they wasted or stole all the oil revenue. If we had a capable an transparent government, we would have overtook South Korea ages ago.

[fwildly]

And I repeat - that has nothing to do with the petrol prices in Malaysia. As a net petroleum exporting country, we should be insulated from it.

The fact is Malaysia is the ONLY such country that has to consider selling at market rate to its own citizens. It cannot afford to subsidize because nearly all of the petroleum revenue has either been squandered or stolen by the previous and current governments.

Not everything has to be about USA. Deal with it.

[chowmak]

BN = brang naik!!

Maggie mee now RM3.95. Previously only RM2.50.

CRAZY!! The worst and most stupid decision that Pak Lah ever made. All rakyat will suffer while Pak Lah and Jane still honeymoon in their villas overseas.

RAKYAT SENGSARA!!

[hijazzains]

if there was less corruptions..Malaysia would have wasted less money on projects the privilige the few elite and would not have to increase fuel by 78 cents which is crazy!! Not to mention the fact that Malaysians are the main losers for paying the highest car price in the world(we Malaysians are probably among the few who pay for car prices that's equivalent the price of a house) while Malaysian ministers get new cars when they enter cabinet.

[zhangruizhen]

The people's complaint is not the price hike per se (We Malaysians are not deaf and dumb to all that is happening around us) but the OVERNIGHT price hike itself.

What angers us the most are people from neighbouring countries who are enjoying low prices (due to currency exchange difference) who has the audacity to make ANY comments regarding our complaints!

[jems84kl]

omg of course they r too blame cause look at what their actions have done to EVERYONE around the world!! stop thinking this is about corruption....there r more world issues going on!! they r not rising it cause they want to make ppl suffer. they have no choice. and come on, its still waaaayyy cheaper then other countries!