The prime minister's recent statement that the government is looking at revamping the fuel subsidy system in the country is very much expected given the current record breaking oil prices.

However what I find disturbing is the proposed discriminatory two tier tariff structure between the 'poor' and the 'rich'. Honestly, how do you effectively carry out such a tariff structure in our country and how do you determine who is 'rich' and who is 'poor' for the purposes of such a policy? Even the present diesel subsidy has been abused. I have no doubt that any such discriminatory tariff structure will be totally unworkable.

In fact, some of the options as suggested by Syed Nazri Syed Harun in New Straits Times (Nov 13) who I believe was acting as a devil's advocate in writing the article, is in my opinion totally impractical and open to wide-scale abuses:

i) Two-tier pricing system at the pump

As Syed Nazri himself acknowledged, a blanket ruling affecting, say, cars above 2,000cc (for the rich) which will have to pay more per liter and a lower price for smaller cars at the pump is simply not enforceable given our "creative" nature of getting around such rulings.

ii) Modification of either the petrol pump nozzle at all stations or the fuel tank inlets of all cars.

Again, as acknowledged by Syed Nazri, such a system would not only be expensive but also again almost impossible to enforce.

iii) A coupon or voucher system

Where 'poor' motorist present a coupon at the petrol station for a cheaper petrol rate. Again, as in the diesel subsidy scenario, its open to abuse. Such vouchers or even the petrol sold based on such vouchers may somehow find their way to the wrong hands.

iv) Higher road tax or sales tax for bigger cars

As acknowledged by Syed Nazri, such a system is already in place. It should be noted that the taxes on higher cc cars in our country is amongst the highest in the world. To push it any higher would kill what is left of the car industry in our country. As for higher road tax, I currently already pay RM889 for road tax per annum for my 12-year-old 2.5 cc sedan where else my wife only pays RM90 for her 1.6 cc sedan.

On the other hand, my weekly petrol bill (which is about RM80 per week) comes to about the same as hers as her office is further away from our home than mine. I am sure that many people driving cars under 2.0 cc use much more petrol than myself and other car owners who own cars above 2.0 cc. In fact, we (drivers of higher cc cars) are already paying for our "indulgence" by way of higher road tax under the present road tax tariff structure.

v) Through income tax where the rich will have to specifically pay for fuel subsidies

This sounds like the "fuel surcharge" imposed by the airlines! However, if you do not fly, why do you have to pay? Any fuel "tax" should be based on usage and not based on income tax levels. Why burden the taxpayer with such a subsidy? We already have one of the highest personal income tax rates in the region. Wouldn't this be a move backwards when everyone else is moving towards indirect taxation such as sales and service taxes?

I am of the opinion that when it comes to car ownership, there is no clear way to distinguish between 'rich' and 'poor' based on the cc of the car one drives. You may very well have a motoring enthusiast like myself owning a 2.5 cc car (which in my case happens to be a 12-year-old car) without actually being considered 'rich'. At best, I would consider myself as being middle class. Why should I and many others like myself be penalised with the burden of subsidising the rest of the Malaysian motorist's fuel bill?

Furthermore, even if the government decides to penalise the 'rich' car owners, that is to say, those who drive cars above 2.0 cc or earn above a certain income level, I honestly do not think it is going to solve the government's fuel subsidy woes as we only account for a minority of petrol users and are therefore, not a major benefactor of such subsidies. Although taxing the 'rich' may be the popular option, it may not be the right one to address this issue.

In reality, we all have to prepare ourselves to face higher petrol prices next year and should we all strive to conserve the use of this ever-depleting resource and find alternative and cheaper modes of transportation should driving becomes unaffordable to us.

Therefore, any decision by the government on the fuel subsidy should not be discriminatory and should be fair to all. It should ultimately be based on usage of the same by the person concerned.