The 41% jump of 78 sen to RM2.70 per litre of petrol on 05 June announced by the Badawi administration is harsh to the extreme.
More so when Malaysia is a net exporter of petroleum. (Please study chart below to compare our petrol price with other oil producing countries.)
Courtesy of malaysiakiniThe prices of everything will be affected and the rakyat will suffer when their salaries have generally not increased since the last financial crisis in 1997.
The prices of essential items like rice, fish, eggs, chicken, flour, sugar, cooking oil and condensed milk, etc. have already shot up drastically. With the same amount of money in hand, the rakyat can only buy less. This means families will have less to eat when it comes to food. The damaging effects of the high petrol price on the cost of housing and transportation are also two other looming worries which will crush heavily on the rakyat in the days to follow.
The Badawi administration, it seems, is insensitive and is prepared to let the rakyat suffer by increasing the price of petrol exorbitantly. The rakyat want to speak up and let the sleeping prime minister wake up to their problems. But the police and the lame duck prime minister himself have gone to the mainstream media and told the public not to protest. The question for this week then, is ...
As a citizen of this country, do you think it is just and fair for the police and the prime minister of Malaysia to prevent the people from collectively voicing their hardships to their government in public so that measures can be taken to alleviate their problems?
