As expected, we were subject to another round of fuel price increase recently and it looks like there will be more to come. While we can live with the price hikes in petrol, we, however, will find it harder to cope with the inevitable corresponding price increase in other goods and services.

This snowball effect makes our cost of living to go up. The government in making us understand that they will have to subsidise us to the tune of billions more if they do not increase the fuel prices. But it must also take into account the increased hardship of the people.

We take great pride in Petronas making billions in profit by selling oil but is it too much for the rakyat to expect that somehow fuel prices can be kept at a manageable level to keep the cost of living stable?

Petronas belongs to all Malaysians, not just to the Barisan Nasional or Umno to do with as they see fit. That is what one feels is actually happening now. There is a lack of transparency in its revenue and expenditure and we are expected to simply just trust this government.

So far we have trusted this government, but if prices keep going up and more people are feeling the pinch, more hard questions will be asked of the government's management of our country's biggest earner especially with regards to helping alleviate our fuel price problem.

At the end of the day, maybe it would be better if the government finds a way to balance this issue ie, by absorbing future subsidies. The country may be slightly poorer but its people will be better off and will appreciate that they have a government that is in touch with the man in the street.