I know I said I would not talk about politics and such but I couldn’t resist having my say (that’s why I have this blog) after reading that the Malaysian government is giving out a rebate of RM625 to vehicle owners (with cars running on an engine capacity of 2,000cc) and political parties like MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) are calling for a complete abolishment of toll and road tax in Selangor.

From here,

State party chairman Datuk Ong Tee Keat said this would help ease the burden of the public as a result of the petrol and diesel price hikes.

He said the Selangor MCA exco had unanimously agreed to the two proposals after taking into account the sentiments and feelings of the people on the ground and their “level of discomfort” following the price increases.

“I am the Transport Minister but this does not mean that I cannot voice out the concerns of the grassroots. A minister can also be sensitive and in touch with the feelings of the grassroots,” he said yesterday after chairing the two-hour state exco meeting.

Sorry, Datuk Ong, but if you were a sensitive minister as you claim to be, you’d talk about making proactive changes to the public transportation system so it can be afforded by all NOT by abolishing tolls and road tax which only apply to those who can afford to pay it. Do you think your cleaning lady has enough money for a car much or less the toll or road tax????

…and here…

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said although the Government had announced that cash rebates could only be collected beginning July 1, it had decided to bring forward the date.

“This is because we want to ease the burden of the rakyat. Detailed information on the actual procedure will be announced soon,” he told reporters after chairing the first National Inflation Council meeting at his office here yesterday.

Pak Lah, as much as I have faith in you, I wish to say that this is not a long term solution to ease the burden of the rakyat. The rakyat needs better public transportation, something which you promised but have yet to execute.

Is this a solution or just another problem in the making?

I remember the whole carpool thing in the 80s which died down because of the boom; every Malaysian went crazy and bought him/herself a brand new car and many drive to town in single occupancy vehicles. Never mind that KL was only so big and parking was a huge problem…there is, of course, the traffic and pollution which hardly makes it a great town to walk around in.

When the fuel hike hit two years ago (and now), I thought (and still think) that one of the best things the Government could do was buck up the public transportation system with the taxes earned and subsidies saved.

Instead, we get idiots telling us that we should give car owners more rebates and less tolls. WHAT. THE. HELL. This is perhaps the equivalent of the French saying, un pansement sur un jambe de bois. Loosely translated? Rebates, abolishing tolls and road tax is the equivalent of putting plaster on a wooden leg.

*insertsarcasm* I think 31st October came early. Time to send out some Halloween invitations. *endsarcasm*

Really…talking about politics on the blogsphere has a way of, well, ruffling up feathers. After visiting heaps of blogs online – silently or otherwise – it has dawned on me that Malaysians are really an angry lot of people who just love to complain. Whether it’s with reason or not, well, that has left to be seen…

The funny thing is this: a lot of the ones doing the complaining are also the ones who can afford that extra bit of the cash or find better paying jobs. The cleaning lady, ah sums, sales assistants and farmers of Malaysia (plus a whole lot of other poor people) are busy trying to earn a living and deal with this as best as they can, which probably explains why you don’t see a lot of them on the Internet blogging about their lives.

Those of us who offer a different view on the situation are immediately shot down as 1) disconnected, 2) ignorant and 3) just plain old-fashioned “you don’t understand”. Never mind that my M’sian friends who are living abroad are not having an easy time with the fuel hikes and rising costs either…that’s the bloody misconception that most M’sians have – if you have a toe dipped on foreign soil, you’re swimming in gold. Pfft. Sorry to disappoint you but like every other Mat Salleh, we have to work hard (if not doubly so) for our moolah and even then, it’s not all roses and peaches…

I really don’t know what else to tell M’sians. I, like Edrei, believe that everyone is part of the problem and while being angry is allowed, being angry without a plan or any proactive action is just stupid. The whole hangat-hangat tahi ayam, y’know…

I wonder if there is an action group pushing the government to better public transport and etc…or are complaints just falling onto deaf ears?

Either way, it’s back to the usual stuff for me – Mum’s here for a visit and I’ve been busy. Won’t even be around next week. I’m going to blow at least a couple of hundreds just for travelling from Switzerland to France and vice-versa. *insertsarcasm* Yes, what to do? I’m living in comfort here, mah. *endsarcasm*

Hm…I wonder if overdosing on diet pills would help get rid of the additional “stuff” (being polite here) I’ve had to swallow of lately…