It looks like our beleaguered PM, Pak Lah has lost the plot completely with the recent hefty fuel price increases. He has unwittingly opened the Pandora's Box when he stands before us and proclaims, 'Trust me, this is for your own good'.

To the ordinary rakyat, RM4.4 billion is just another number to be made, spent or lost in the governance and administration of the country. If it had been lost, there will be the usual grumbling but soon all will be forgotten.

However when he tells us that he needs RM4.4 billion of our hard-earned money and more with the inevitable rise in prices of other goods, the natural reaction from us would be to ask 'Is my life going to get better and my income increase indirectly?' Without being sure of these answers, the next questions will then be, 'What do you need the money for anyway and what has happened to all of Petronas' billions?'

The problem for Pak Lah is that he cannot give a satisfactory answer to all these questions, but surely a leader worth his salt would have foreseen all this and the political fallout it would cause. He cannot be so naive as to expect the rakyat to totally put their faith in him unquestioningly. It is a leap of faith too far for many of us especially when Pak Lah now alarmingly exhibits a total disconnect with the less well-off trying to make ends meet.

He also has put undue pressure on his administration to show where the money goes and also work hard to attend to complaints of profiteering. Now when the going gets tough, all will blame it on the price increases even if it has nothing to do with it.

Why did Pak Lah make himself such an easy target? Or has he been set up? The fact is he could have gone about it in so many ways to 'recover' RM4.4 billion but unfortunately he could not have done it in a worse manner.

Makes one wonder whether the country is broke. This is a PM lost in wonderland and perhaps listening to people with only feel good stories and other agendas on their minds.