Increase, Increase, Increase...

My fellow Malaysians,

LOOK AT THE QUEUE!!!!!

Yup, that's right, the long queue in the road in front of my place. There's a petrol station round the corner from where I live. And I was wondering why there was a traffic jam along the road since 3pm today! Yeap, that was before I knew about the 40% hike. It's 10:40pm now, and the jam shows no sign of easing...

No prizes for guess the headlines for tomorrow. Yes, a 40% increase. It costs RM2.70/litre now. Feeding Bob costs me 40% extra now. Oh well! Just grin and bear with it. No choice!

This drastic increase would undoubtedly cause much shock to us, who have been enjoying petrol subsidies for time in memorial. But, give it a day or two, we will move on. Complain is all we can do, but we'll have to suck it up and move on. We have no choice but to pay a heftier sum, as we need our cars/motorbikes/scooters/etc as our means of transport.

I sincerely hope that the review in subsidies would mean more funds for other purposes.
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/bnm/20080604/tts-abdullah-savings-3-last-putrajaya-993ba14.html

RM13.7 billion extra to spend!!!!!! Now, that's money, baby!

My 'extra money from petrol subsidy' wish list is as follows:

First and foremost, I would like to see more funds being allocated towards the improvement of access to healthcare and yes, healthcare facilities in our country. Private healthcare is costly in our country. And although many complaints have been lodged against the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK e.g. MRSA bug in particular, I do hope that a similar system would be implemented in Malaysia one day. For this to materialise, we need money, money and money... apart from more manpower and a good long-term blue print.

Secondly, would be for the improvement of our public transport system. Better public transport links. Improvement and a total revamp of the railway system, which in my opinion could be improved and ought to be capitalised on. Faster trains to cut short journey between states. Better railway links in the outskirts and to/from other states. (Not only in Klang Valley). I know it will take ages for the public transport system to rival that in the UK, but I long for the day. I really miss those days where I could travel from Manchester to London solely on public transport alone, from Sale to Birmingham, from Leeds to Banbury, from Manchester to Paris to London to Windsor to Rome and back to Manchester again (yes, planes count as public transport too!).

There are more things towards which I would like to see the extra funds being channeled to.

But the last on my list would be for the provision of more scholarships e.g. JPA. Too much money is being spent on the scholars who are not too eager to return to serve the country upon completion of their studies. Demands for a scholarship are being placed down as if it were their divine right. Yes, some are willing to repay the government in order to 'break the bond' but, they pay very much less. Imagine paying (if I can recall properly) RM200k for a UK medical degree, the government absorbs 2/3 loss. Now again, tell me; why are we suffering from a shortage of doctors?

Now, that's a heavily stripped down version of my 2 cents worth.

Bob, it's gonna cost me more to feed you now... *pats*

-LV-
*I wanna marry a Tauke Minyak! Just kidding!