Wednesday, July 23, 2008
No hp
To all my dear friends, as most of you should have known by now, I am currently working in Motorola. Due to the company policy, I am not allowed to bring my handphone to work with me. Until I get my own email and phone line in the office, please do not try to phone me during office hours on working days. If anybody wishes to contact me by phone, please do so at night. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Low fuel price = High inflation?
I can't take it anymore. Until now I have refrained from blogging about politics in the country. But there is just way too much idiocy in our country that I just have to say something about it. Has anyone watched the debate between the Minister of Information, Shabery Cheek and the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim? For those who has yet to watch it, do watch it. It can be viewed from Youtube as well as various blogs. I am not going to influence anybody's judgement on who 'won' the debate, but I would like to point out a shockingly stupid statement made by our Minister of Information.
According to him, having low fuel price is not a good thing, because it leads to inflation. OMG! What kind of nonsense is that? He went on to give example of two countries, Iran and Venezuela who has low fuel price but high inflation. Hey dude, Malaysia is Malaysia. Please don't compare us to other countries. 'The government is not going to lower the price of fuel because it will lead to inflation, as proven by Iran and Venezuela' is a lame, lame, lame excuse. I may not be an economist, but I am not -that- stupid. Seriously, how stupid do you think Malaysians are?
Almost everyone in our country drives to work, to school, to the market, to visit relatives, to hang out with friends... When the price of fuel is increased by 41%, without doubt, everyone are affected. Suddenly, we have to pay much more money just to be able to GET ON OUR LIVES. Like it or not, we are forced to 'ubah gaya hidup', as preached by our government. Fathers can no longer afford to take their families to vacations or to even dine out. Mothers can no longer afford to buy new furniture to replace the old and tattered ones, as well as other household items. Children can no longer afford to buy new clothes, school bags, books and other items. What happens? F&B industry suffers. Tourism industry suffers. Get the picture? Every single industry, every single companies in the country suffers, due to the reduced spending power of Malaysians.
As a result, some companies will be forced to close down due to increased losses, causing many people to lose their jobs. This reduces the spending power of the people further. Other companies which do not fold will have to take drastic measures to minimize expenditures and maximize profits, lest they follow the footsteps of those which has closed down. How to minimize expenditures? Lay off workers, of course. How to maximize profits? Increase the price of their products/services, of course. I don't see how lowering fuel price will cause inflation, but it is very obvious that high fuel price -will- cause inflation.
Let us see it in another way. When the fuel price increases, the expenses for transportation increase as well. Vegetables and meat need to be transported from the farmers to the market. Electronics equipment and furniture need to be transported from the factories to the warehouse and then to the shops. Clothes, books, food, you name it. Every single thing requires transportation. 41% increase in fuel price means 41% increase in transportation cost. Needless to say, this increase in transportation cost will be reflected in price hike of almost everything in the market.
I am sick and tired of hearing retarded excuses for the increase in fuel price. We are a oil producing country. A 41% increase is totally unacceptable, and that's the bottomline.
According to him, having low fuel price is not a good thing, because it leads to inflation. OMG! What kind of nonsense is that? He went on to give example of two countries, Iran and Venezuela who has low fuel price but high inflation. Hey dude, Malaysia is Malaysia. Please don't compare us to other countries. 'The government is not going to lower the price of fuel because it will lead to inflation, as proven by Iran and Venezuela' is a lame, lame, lame excuse. I may not be an economist, but I am not -that- stupid. Seriously, how stupid do you think Malaysians are?
Almost everyone in our country drives to work, to school, to the market, to visit relatives, to hang out with friends... When the price of fuel is increased by 41%, without doubt, everyone are affected. Suddenly, we have to pay much more money just to be able to GET ON OUR LIVES. Like it or not, we are forced to 'ubah gaya hidup', as preached by our government. Fathers can no longer afford to take their families to vacations or to even dine out. Mothers can no longer afford to buy new furniture to replace the old and tattered ones, as well as other household items. Children can no longer afford to buy new clothes, school bags, books and other items. What happens? F&B industry suffers. Tourism industry suffers. Get the picture? Every single industry, every single companies in the country suffers, due to the reduced spending power of Malaysians.
As a result, some companies will be forced to close down due to increased losses, causing many people to lose their jobs. This reduces the spending power of the people further. Other companies which do not fold will have to take drastic measures to minimize expenditures and maximize profits, lest they follow the footsteps of those which has closed down. How to minimize expenditures? Lay off workers, of course. How to maximize profits? Increase the price of their products/services, of course. I don't see how lowering fuel price will cause inflation, but it is very obvious that high fuel price -will- cause inflation.
Let us see it in another way. When the fuel price increases, the expenses for transportation increase as well. Vegetables and meat need to be transported from the farmers to the market. Electronics equipment and furniture need to be transported from the factories to the warehouse and then to the shops. Clothes, books, food, you name it. Every single thing requires transportation. 41% increase in fuel price means 41% increase in transportation cost. Needless to say, this increase in transportation cost will be reflected in price hike of almost everything in the market.
I am sick and tired of hearing retarded excuses for the increase in fuel price. We are a oil producing country. A 41% increase is totally unacceptable, and that's the bottomline.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Respect
There's a saying which goes 'Respect is earned, not given'. I disagree with this statement. One does not need to 'earn' our respect. We should respect everyone regardless of that person's position, gender, age, race or relation with us. Yes, that means we should be respectful towards anyone we meet, even if that person is younger than us, or is lower ranked than us in an organization. There should be no discrimination in showing our respect, as long as someone has not done anything unworthy of our respect.
This brings me to another saying, 'Respect is a privillege, not a right'.One should never take the respect shown by others for granted. A right is something that we should have, and will have. It cannot be revoked, whereas a privillege can be revoked. I am a respectful person. I respect my teaches, I respect my friends, I respect my neighbours, I respect my family. But if somebody does something which is selfish, hateful or outright idiotic, sorry, I -will- revoke my respect for that person.
I hope I've not confused anyone. What I am trying to say is, we should respect anyone and everyone, irrespective of social status, but at the same time, it is up to them to NOT do things that will cause us to lose our respect towards them. Gee, I think I've started to confuse myself. I'm so bad with words.
This brings me to another saying, 'Respect is a privillege, not a right'.One should never take the respect shown by others for granted. A right is something that we should have, and will have. It cannot be revoked, whereas a privillege can be revoked. I am a respectful person. I respect my teaches, I respect my friends, I respect my neighbours, I respect my family. But if somebody does something which is selfish, hateful or outright idiotic, sorry, I -will- revoke my respect for that person.
I hope I've not confused anyone. What I am trying to say is, we should respect anyone and everyone, irrespective of social status, but at the same time, it is up to them to NOT do things that will cause us to lose our respect towards them. Gee, I think I've started to confuse myself. I'm so bad with words.
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