It's coming, you know it

I blogged about it briefly on my other blog, It's all about the spin..., but here are my thoughts in full.

Was reading the news today when I spied this article that said prices of crude oil had made a sudden jump to a new high of nearly USD94 on reports that Mexico had suspended a fifth of its production. Wasn't it just last year that oil prices made a sudden jump to the USD60s range that prompted the last round of fuel hike? (You may correct me if I'm wrong.)

Back then, I could fill up my little Kelisa tank with premium V-Power fuel and a full tank only cost me about RM42. I love my car, so I give it the best la. Then with the fuel increase, I switched down to regular fuel and now a semi-full tank already costs me RM40 plus. If I were to really fill it up, I'm sure it would easily be over RM50. And that's for a small Kelisa. I shudder to think of my Dad's Waja, which right now drinks about RM90 plus of fuel every four days or so (he travels a fair bit). Luckily, his company pays for the fuel.

I don't want to think about next year when the promise of the government to NOT increase the prices of fuel expires. With crazy oil prices like this, by next year I could well be spending RM80 just to fill up one semi-full tank of petrol for my car. That is just madness, I'm telling you. Somehow or other, I get the feeling of impending doom that one day, humans will just use up everything that's viable on Earth and then we'll all go extinct.

Is it too soon to be happy?

Did you hear that? That's the massive sigh of relief heaved by Malaysian drivers after the move to close all petrol stations in the country by 10.00pm by the Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) was called off. I wonder what arm-twisting went on the the meeting between the PDA and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry so that the move was "shelved".

But... will the consumers be made to pay the price one way or another? I predict that credit charges will still be passed back to the consumer OR after some "whining" about the stagnant petrol prices - fuel charge hike! Dearer petrol = less driving, maybe? Maybe this is the solution to the never-ending traffic jams in KL. That and making it harder for people to buy cars. But who am I to talk about this when I won't give up my Single Occupancy Vehicle no matter how the fuel prices go up. *grin*

They fight, we lose

After the announcement by the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) that they will close at 10.00pm by hook or by crook, suddenly the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs ministry (DTCA) has become vocal about the subject. They issued a stern warning to the petrol dealers not to close as this would affect the economy and they have no right to make such a decision without consulting the Government. It also quotes Pan Malaysian Lorry Owners Association president Er Sui See and Federal Territory and Selangor Taxi Operators Association president Datuk Aslah Abdullah as saying that the closure of petrol stations at 10pm would only drive up transportation costs and affect taxi drivers' income. I can just see the domino effect - lorries and taxi drivers hike their costs and fees because of the scarcity of petrol stations. The consumer is the end one affected by all this bickering.

Then the following day, DTCA says that petrol dealers who cannot take the high cost of operating a dealership should give up as there are many others waiting to take their place. I agree with this point. If you can't hack it, quit and let others who are willing to take it have a go at it.

Liquid gold

Yesterday, it was reported that the Petrol Dealers Association was seeking government approval to close all petrol stations (except those on highways) by 10.00pm daily. Today, they say they are closing at 10.00pm, with or without approval.

No need to bother about the people who may need to fill up late at night; we'll just let them run out of petrol. No need to bother about those working on night shifts; they don't need to fill up during regular hours. No need to worry about those running low on fuel who have emergencies in the middle of the night; that'll teach them a lesson not to fill up during normal working hours.

Escalating costs and security risk was cited at the reasons behind the push for shorter hours. I can understand about cost if you need to have a few attendants walking around. I know security risk is a factor - robberies might and can happen. But if you're a completely self-serve station (like all the stations I go to anyway), it eliminates the need to have a few workers working throughout the night. The customers can take care of themselves, the way I do. And the customers do know the security risk of filling up late at night. Plus, if it's a self-serve station, you can always make the ruling of no cash transactions after 10.00pm, just like how 7-Eleven does their little cash in the register policy.

And they want to pass on the 1% charge for credit card transactions back to the consumer. It's only 1%, and if I'm not mistaken other types of retailers are 3%. Who suffers? The consumer.

How Malaysian.