Fuel Hike

Fuel hike: Gov’t has a lot to answer for

Kuek Ser Kuang KengApr 22, 06 6:33pm

At a forum on the recent decision by the government to impose a 30 sen fuel hike, participants spent three hours questioning the so-called ‘justifications’ of the unpopular move.
First on the firing line was Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who urged the people to ‘change your lifestyle’ to cope with the present situation.
Coordinator of the Marginalised People’s Network (Jerit) Letchimi Devi said that the Ninth Malaysia Plan report revealed that low wage earners who make up 40 percent of families received only 13.5 percent of the nation’s income, as compared to the top 20 percent of families, who received 51.2 percent.
“Malaysia is one of the countries in Asia that has the worst income disparity. The richest 10 percent in Malaysia earn 22 times more than the poorest 10 percent [...] So who should change their lifestyle?” she said.
The forum was organised by the Coalition Against Fuel Price Hike (Protes) which consists of opposition parties and non-governmental organisations and chaired by PAS central committee member Dr Hatta Ramli.
The audience of about 200 at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall listened attentively to the eight speakers representing different organisations, although the event only concluded at midnight.
Learn from Chavez
Citing Venezuela’s new wealth distribution policy, pro tem secretary general of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) S Arutchelvan said the government should learn from the South America petroleum exporter.
After Hugo Chavez’s leftist party, the Fifth Republic Movement, took office in 1998, the oil and gas industry that was initially controlled by foreign companies were nationalised, according to Arutchelvan.
“Income earned from petroleum was used to build houses for the poor, build 3000 new schools, one million food subsidy for poor students. Income was also used to save the national electric company from being privatised,
“Our country however used the petroleum income for projects such as Sepang F1 circuit and Petronas Twin Towers which are not beneficial to the people,” he add
He criticised Abdullah’s administration for adopting too many neo-liberalism economic policies which champion free market competition and against all forms of subsidy.
Nation in debt
Arutchelvan argues that this had resulted in the privatisation of public services and the nation’s astronomical foreign debt.
“In the 9th Malaysia Plan, Malaysia's debt reaches half of the GDP. This is equal to a RM1,200 debt to every Malaysian,” said Arutchelvan.
Similarly, the government’s claim that Malaysia’s petrol price was among the cheapest in the region was dismissed by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as ‘comparing apple to orange’.
Lim said the government should instead compare the fuel prices with other petrol exporters instead of petrol importers.
“Compared to petrol exporters such as Brunei, countries in Middle East, South America such as Venezuela, our petrol price is higher than theirs,” Lim said.
Meanwhile, Suaram's secretariat member Elizabeth Wong cast doubt over the government’s committment towards the channelling of RM4.4 bil to a public transport system trust fund.
“Petronas has been earning for so many years, but why didn't the government use the revenue to improve public transport? Why wait until now?” said Wong.
She also challenged the premier to make Petronas’ accounts public since the revenue from petroleum should rightly belong to the people.
Media blackout
Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) president Syed Sharir Syed Mohamud later expressed his disappointment over the media blackout of dissenting views over the fuel hike.
“I was sad that not even a little bit of the anti-fuel hike rallies on March 26 was reported in the electronic media,” he said.
He said that former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration had tamed the people causing them to impose self-censorship.
“In other countries, people will get angry when the petrol price hikes but this does not happen in Malaysia,” he said with a tinge of sarcasm.
“As long as the people and workers still feel comfortable, the current situation will continue. Many union leaders don't understand this, perhaps this is because our thinking had been tamed,” he added.
Other who spoke on the issue were PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Isa, PKR vice-president R Sivarasa and Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) president Zaid Kamaruddin.
Despite the police arrests during previous protest, the coalition vowed to stage more protests, including one this afternoon at Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur.
The movement is expected to follow up with a even larger rally on May 28, which is expected to see the inclusion of staunch Abdullah critic and former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.