Malaysian Petrol Price is Expensive

This is heck of a long post, read before you comment please.

Looking back at Anwar’s day from 1990 to 1998 as the Ministry of Finance. Our fuel price remained stagnant, RM 1.10 per liter. There was a time where the government increased by 3 cent, but eventually pushed back to its original price due to complains. Today, the oil price stood at RM1.92 per liter. I don’t want to praise Anwar for that matter, but he really did a good job.

There was one statement from KJ, fuel price should varies, depending on household income. Plain stupid or pure brainless? No I don’t think rich man will pay more for the same quality fuel the poor man is paying. This is no utopia, where everybody is warm and welcome, generous and transparent. I’ll give you a scenario, you go to a mamak stall, get yourself a roti canai and teh tarik. The guy who sits next to you is wearing a “washed” down cloth, while you on the other hand, like a gentlemen, prim and proper. The guy ordered the same thing. Once you’re done, your bill was RM1 higher than the guy. How does that make you feel? Silly of course! Heck, I won’t wear anything (except shorts) just to get a bargain and soon in the future, everyone will go topless. We’ll all look like orang asli.

Then comes Petronas. It was reported that Petronas made RM45.4 billion sales of crude oil from 192.4 million barrels. To whom these crude oil belongs to? Yes, you and me. Picture this, you stay with your siblings in a house full of antics. You brother and sister sells these antics but the profit never got to you. Some of the profit goes to the beautification of the house. Question, do you want to look good and be poor or look bad but rich? Neither is good. We want balance. So if Petronas gets richer, who/where does it go to?

“We are step daughters and sons”. Government tells us that, the price is already cheap compared to other nations, HELLLOOO, did you forget to multiply the cost-of-living ?

Let’s take UK for example, today’s fuel price is £0.990 per liter and the minimum wage is £5.52 per hour. Since we don’t have a minimum wage in Malaysia, I will assume the lowest pay will be RM3.50 per hour and fuel price of RM1.92 per liter. We’ll do some math with the lower ratio being bad/worst.

Minimum wage/fuel price liter.
UK – 5.757, Malaysia – 1.8229

We just took UK for example, and not other nations. If you round the figures above, we can see that UK’s buying power is 3 TIMES of ours. Now you get my point? Yet they still complain and we stood still, and say, “it’s ok-lah”.

Another thing I would like to point out is the crude oil trade. Let’s put this in durian term. We produce durian on seasonal basis and supply to other countries. Our durian (D24 grade) is priced roughly RM 10 per kg and UK’s price would be £3 per 100g. Do the math and you get about 19.4 times the price in Malaysia to enjoy the “king of fruits” in UK. It’s reasonable because;

1. UK don’t produce durian, hence expensive logistics.
2. We produce durian, hence cheaper logistics.
3. We import from Thailand, competition keeps the price low.
4. Hard to find durian in UK, demand is high, hence expensive.
5. Easy to find durian in Malaysia, demand is average, introduce competitions hence cheaper.

It doesn’t make sense? Allow me to relate.

1. UK don’t produce oil, hence expensive logistics etc but affordable than Malaysia and why?
2. We produce oil, cheaper logistics, local refinery etc and export to other nations, highly priced. Good sales!
3. We import from other 3rd world countries, refined and sold to citizens at a very high price, why? Can’t we contra from the sales made from export?
4. Easy to find fuel in UK, demand is high but kept at affordable price.
5. Easy to find fuel in Malaysia but expensive.

Did you catch my point? In short, somewhere along the process, we are being robbed of our own property. Be it the government, Petronas or any oil & gas company.

After reading this, do you think the government is fair? Do you feel slightly educated? Did I mislead you from the “Tak Apa” (“It’s OK”) attitude? If yes, I’m glad I did my part.

Can old folks live with their pension money afford these petrol rates? How about those living in rural areas, farmers or rubber tappers, earning RM1.20 per hour? Yes, I am against the Government (as a matter of fact, you should too!). What ever I’m fighting for, I’m doing it for the nation. If not for you, it’s for your kids. So think, act and react..

PS: I am an average Joe. I am unhappy about the fuel price in Malaysia. Shed some lights if I got any of these information wrong.