I am suffering from a subsidy diarrhoea. For the last couple of months, the Barisan Nasional government has been on a ‘spin’ on the effects of the subsidy and why economists suggest this should be done away with for the good of the economy and the people.

Subsidy is an institution which even developed nations adopt. Please examine the US, Europe and Japan on agricultural food subsidies and the resulting price distortion irrespective of WTO agreements.

They have political legitimacy, not economics. But if economics and market forces were to prevail, we will be at the mercy of the more developed nations. There is no level playing field and never will be. The rich and powerful will always rule – unless you are in ‘Animal Farm’ – and even then some are more equal than others.

We have subsidy for our national cars. We have subsidy for food items. We have subsidy for essential goods. We have subsidy on interest rates for small businesses. And we have subsidy for petrol and gas.

The key is subsidy for petrol and gas – this amounted to RM36.2 billion in 2007. The amount of oil revenue collected in 2007 totalled RM51.2 billion. This is more than sufficient to cover this so-called subsidy.

Stop comparing our petrol price with Singapore, Thailand or Indonesia. It bears no relevance. We are a net exporter of petroleum. Our wages are lower than Singapore, so it has no meaning for us to start this ridiculous comparison.

What do we do then? We need to stop this speculative activity on oil price – there has to be a crisis summit of major governments to ‘rein-in’ the speculators, the hedge funds, the wealth funds, the sovereign funds, the banks and any others trading in commodities, especially oil and gas.

Secondly, people need to take action to move their governments to get off their comfortable seats. Take one day off work as a mark of our displeasure. Stop driving for a day. Put the BPs and Shells and Exxons on notice. Thirdly, put in place a ‘windfall’ tax on the oil companies – let them pay for the subsidies, not the Malaysian consumer.

What will happen if we follow the inevitable – the removal of subsidies? The consequence of inaction is inflation. Roti canai , teh tarik , bus fares, retail goods, groceries – everything will be up in price by a quantum leap.

Good for the manufacturers! Good for the middlemen! But bad for the layman. Next, unions will demand wage increases and new collective agreements. Where will it all end? Spiral up to a new Zimbabwe – the promised land! It will be the detriment of this government and it begins in August or sooner.