http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/2/28/nation/13525389&sec=nation&focus=1
I bet most of the petrol stations last night were packed with cars trying to get their tanks filled at a price 30 cents per litre cheaper...hehe...."kiasu" attitude :)
That's the picture each time they announce the news of this fuel price increase anyhow. I think this is the highest increase by far and I even heard from a colleague that the petrol stations were so elated at this piece of news that they even refused to sell petrol last night. That's pretty outrageous if you ask me...and they certainly have no right to do such a thing!
Following the trend since last year, the prices of petrol have been steadily increasing for like....how many times? Man, I've even lost count :(
Point is, there are people out there who earns a meager income, barely enough to feed themselves and at the same time, bogged down with financial duties (i.e.: feeding the family,scrapping off the household expenditure, house loan, car loan, bills, and not forgetting the taxes!) Well, this is just one common scenario.
Probably most of us would say, "Hey, then give up on the car if you cannot afford to maintain it", which is not entirely an untrue statement. However, on the other side of the picture, there is also the issue of the ease of transportation. Let's view the situation from a different perspective now; in Malaysia, we do have the public transportation such as the KTM, LRT, monorail, buses, taxis, etc. At the same time, there is also limitations to our public transports. I am sure most of us are aware of the fact that the trains(KTM, LRT, monorail, etc) are only to be found in the capital; Kuala Lumpur which of course hosts the most infrastructures and job opportunities and not to mention the worse traffic jams as compared to the other states in the region. Furthermore, the public buses and taxis are not exactly the best modes of getting you somewhere as well and I am sure most of us have read of those buses being late for an hour. Imagine that when you are rushing to work or for an interview!!~
As in the other states, they typically do not have much choices but to take the buses or cabs to work. Alternatively, m
ost of them own their own cars. Another good example would be Penang; which is also a growing industrial zone and thus hosting a large number of outstation folks from other states. There's increasing traffic using the only link between the mainland and the island which is the Penang bridge (there's supposedly plans for the widening of the bridge or a new bridge...). Also, they are thinking of increasing the bridge toll...(are they robbing us or what??)
In this scenario, are there any other forms of transport which you can think of if not driving your own car? They do have ferries to bring the people from one end to the other; but just take a look at the queue each day and you will give up that idea shortly..haha:) Another alternative, learn up swimming lessons and strengthen those biceps by making laps towards your destination <*wink*>
In all, let's just keep our fingers crossed that this will...(true to their word) be the one and only increase for this year...(I still wonder and doubt within reasonable doubts). In the meantime, carpool is also another good option...killing several birds at the same time; save petrol and environment, foster closer relationships, bla bla bla....to keep it short, just fill up your tanks and lessen travel if you are trying to minimize your expenditure. Don't frown too much over this...life is too short to worry all about the fuel in your cars....worry more about the fuel in your body....and don't allow your blood pressure to take a hike as well....hehehe.
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