Fuel

When I came back to Malaysia, one of the first things that I saw in the papers was talk of a floor price for petrol. HOW IN HELL IS THIS F***ING HALF-BRAINED EXCUSE OF A PLAN GOING TO BENEFIT ANYONE??

The obvious problem at hand is the fuel subsidy. It should never have happened, but now that it has, there is no viable way to regain the funds sunk into the subsidy. Now that fuel prices are similar enough to the actual price, it is time to remove it, once and for all. Even a first-year economics student can tell you that a subsidy's side-effects are negative for the economy as a whole as it involves a transfer of benefits, with a little lost in transition.

And instead of removing the subsidy for good, we might even have a floor price. What hare-brained thought of that? If that person is in charge of our financial policy, I would be very, very afraid for our country. A floor price means that whenever the price of fuel drops below that set amount, the government or the oil companies gain the difference. There is no limit to the heights that oil prices will reach though. Whatever benefits a subsidy has would no longer exist. The fuel market would be restricted in a way that benefits only the government or the oil companies. Neither of whom I would trust.

One argument I've heard is that it is to protect the petrol station owners as they would have bought their oil at a higher price. Screw that, I say. With a proper system in place with the necessary regulations, a free market for petrol is not unworkable. Have you heard of Weighted Average Cost? Use that, idiots. Weight the cost of inventory, work out a suitable profit margin, and sell your products. Of course that would only work in the case that THE PETROL PRICE IS NOT FIXED.

Rawr. Idiots.

Rambling

Well I obviously haven't been taking very good care of my blog have I? Feeling a little guilty now, problem is that I will only blog when I feel strongly enough about something. Even now I'm feeling guilty about updating because I'm not really thinking about anyhting in particular now.

Enough about guilt then. Onwards!

Back home in Malaysia now (Hurray!! :)) Mixed feelings about that though. When I left IH, I had the privilege of being in the company of very, very good friends. Amazing how a year is enough to create such strong relationships, not that I have not experienced it before (thank you SAM). One, I may never see again. One, I will be living with next year. One, I will be gaming with next year. And one whom I hope I will have the chance to listen to expounding upon his subject of thought again. I will miss your company.

Then again I now know why Malaysia is my home. Awesome friends, the safeness of being close to your family........ things that could never be replaced in Melbourne (or can it?)

Which somehow reminds me of the recent anti-yoga fatwa. When I was out today I counted 5 adverts promoting yoga centers, more than any other type of advert, even cars. The delicious irony........

Oh dear God above........... the slowness of the Internet connection here............. 4mbps is the BEST streamyx has to offer, even then its for companies only, the best households get is a measly 1 Mbps connection............ Not good enough, especially when I have been living with a connection 10 times faster and more stable than this (albeit P2P limited= No pirating....... riiiiiiiight)

Need to go shopping!! Melbourne's largest shopping center, 1 hour (by train) away from the CBD and supposedly the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, is nowhere near as large as my neighbourhood shopping center, Sunway Pyramid, and is 100 times smaller than Mid-Valley Megamall. Even if it's just for the feeling of being in a shopping mall, I need to go shopping!!

Just received news that along with three other really great people, I shall be staying in a premium room in IH. Great going guys! Although the bitchiness caused by the competition to get those rooms may not have been worth it for some, not to mention the feeling that some who did get it did not deserve it. Sigh........ enough for now I think........