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Killing us softly with each price hike
Published:  Dec 4, 2010 8:27 AM
Updated: 6:00 AM

your say 'Yesterday, the PM said that the people were starting to trust BN and returning to BN, so today he punished them by increasing the prices of essential items.'

Fuel, diesel, gas and sugar prices up

Wira: Fuel price increases will cause inflation in the transportation sector and that will escalate prices in all sectors of the economy.

Meanwhile, Putrajaya is spending money and feeding their cronies as if everything is back to pre-March 2008, no thanks to the voters in the two constituencies (Batu Sapi and Galas) who succumbed to their lies and bribes, and gave those thieves the confidence to continue their evil ways.

Concern_Father: Yesterday, the PM said that the people were starting to trust BN and returning to BN, so today he punished them by increasing the prices of essential items. He knows very well - the rakyat are stupid and they will vote for BN.

The question is: Are you and me stupid enough to fall for this?

Longjaafar: When tycoon Robert Kuok was the main player in the sugar industry, he appealed for decades to raise the price of sugar but was rejected.

Then he was "coerced" to sell his shares to a very, very influential and well-connected entity, and this year alone the price has been increased three times. How can we attract investors if we do this kind of thing?

Observer: I would like to bring everyone's attention to the price hike of medicine at pharmacies. Take the case of a pill which I used to buy for 10 sen each. Now it has gone up to 30 sen each after wrapping these pills up in foils. That's a 200 percent increase.

Besides this, look at the price increases in groceries. Onions - before 80 sen, now RM2.80 per kilo; garlic - before 60 sen, now RM7 per kilo. I can go on and on. There is no end. Is this government people-friendly and a caring one? You decide.

Hann Wei Toh: To be fair, this is the kind of increase that we need. It helps people to adjust their lifestyle with little pain, and give them a chance to increase their productivity and competitiveness.

Lesungbatu: Thank you, my dear government for making me "poorer" by a few sen. Prices of goods are always going up but my salary never ever been revised to match the increase of cost of living in this country.

For the ‘kampung folks' who voted for this government - get ready to change your lifestyle by drinking coffee/tea once a day, eat rice once a day and only drive your vehicle when necessary. Alternatively, drink lots of plain water, eat ‘ubi kayu aka tapioca' and ride the bicycle.

Joker: It is inevitable for prices to go up. However, this subsidy reduction would have been better received by the rakyat if it was balanced with a reduction in frivolous expenses. But we see no action being taken by the government against the heads of department who overspent or did not ensure their purchases were made at market prices.

It is also a slap in the face of the rakyat when they see their money being spent on a never-ending-under-construction Shah Alam hospital, overpriced but unarmed and unsinkable submarines, ever higher claims and expenses by ministers, especially our tourism minister, and so many other wasteful expenses.

Some say Pakatan Rakyat is no better than BN. Whether true or not, BN must be voted out to let those people occupying the corridors of power that ultimate power rests in the hands of the rakyat.

Multi Racial: Frankly, I can accept prices of fuel and sugar going up due to inflation. But in Malaysia, besides inflation the hikes are due to big scale corruption and at the end of the day, layman like myself have to pay for this inefficiency.

Initially, I try to find someone to blame but at the end of the day, it was mainly due to us. Most of us voted BN all these years regardless. We created this monster. We have to retire all of them. And hopefully we created a two-party system for the sake of check and balance.

Honestly I don't really trust those politicians from PKR and PAS too. But for the sake of future of Malaysian we have to vote Pakatan into power because those in BN, especially Umno, are beyond repent. These people must be forced to retire, and to a certain extend, some of them need to be prosecuted and put into jail.

Anonymous: Remember the song ‘Killing me softly with his song'? Well, now we have the BN version of it - ‘Killing us softly with each increase'.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: We should all be grateful to Najib and his gang of thieves. This latest ‘policy' announcement from the government has certainly made it very clear to the voters whom to vote for come GE13. The people are made to suffer while the political elites and their cronies in the private sector continue to rape, pillage and suck the country dry.

It is time that the people take to the streets and tell this wretched government that its time is up and we will no longer tolerate these abuses, corruption and mismanagement of the country and its economy. If the democratic process has failed us then constructive destruction is the only other option.

We cannot go on living with the constant abuses by the BN of the entire government machinery, the judiciary, the police and the media just to hold on to power and satiate their unending lust for wealth, position, praise and recognition.

A political and social revolution is called for, not just in thinking but also in action.

Management Skill: We need leaders that could manage our country financial resources well. Since our current government has failed this responsibility, what are we waiting for? We should change government - we need to take risk with the hope of getting better rather than to maintain the status quo.

Hashim: A few days ago, I paid RM1.20 for a newspaper at a 'kedai runcit' (sundry shop) and gave the shopkeeper a RM1 note and four five sen coins.

The shopkeeper said, "Five sen coins - don't want."

I asked her why as they were as good as any coin.

She answered, "Five sen useless, my customers don't want them. Some of them don't even want 10 sen coins."

With the way prices are increasing, Bank Negara will soon have take the five sen coins out of circulation. Remember those days when we had one sen coin? I guess inflation is fast catching up with us.

Bozo: Still want to build the 100 storey Wawasan building?


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