– a bystander’s report of the petrol price hike protest in Kuala Lumpur today

They came not in ones or twos, not in tens or hundreds, but by the thousands, desperately seeking a solution for inordinately huge fuel hike just ordinary Malaysians, who have no solution on how to cope with the current inflation.

They were young and old, male and female, participants who came from out station. We salute them for their fortitude, for the sacrifice, for their efforts. Shame on us KLites, I stand humbled by their initiative and gumption to come over from Kelantan and Perak.

Fellow KLites they are walking right now for you and me, from Masjid Jamek, Kampung Baru after the Friday Prayers, they held banners up. I could be mistaken, but I think Nik Nazmi, Seri Setia State Assemblyman was at the mike for a while. Their numbers could be two to three thousand and more. Unit Amal guys showed their professionalism and efficiency in marshalling the crowds and the public address system. Read the rest of this entry »

Letters
by Toh May Fook

Thomas Freidman deliberated on the impact of the wealth that comes with the endowment of oil, on various oil-rich nations around the world and concluded that in many of these “less developed nations,” oil is actually a curse rather than a blessing. It actually promotes indulgence of every sorts, misallocation of resources, complacency, poor governance, abuse of executive powers, corruptions and all sorts of other social and political ills.

Back in our country, revenue from Petronas has contributed to 33% of the government’s annual budget, so we were told, but the accounts of Petronas is not made public and that leads to all sorts of negative speculations from concerned citizen. It defies logic that a national institution as important as Petronas which has contributed so much to the nation does not want to be transparent and gain even more respect from all fellow Malaysians. Unless as they say, benar benar ada udang disebalik batu.

The price of pump price of fuel has risen to a point that threatens the livelihood of most ordinary Rakyat, right thinking citizen can not accept the logic offered by the government and this can easily lead to political instability. As the issue has reached crisis proportion, it is ridiculous that the government still does not deem it necessary to open up the accounts of Petronas together with a comprehensive public review on the state of affairs in Petronas. Read the rest of this entry »