brace for more..

Have you noticed how fast the prices of most things are creeping up lately? Noticed how the government had increased the price of two essentials, petroleum and sugar, without any warning seemingly overnight in the past 3 weeks?? How some things can cost an extra 10, 20 or even 30% more literally overnight? How a 10 or 20 cent increment in petroleum no longer provoke long queues in gas stations?? Are we immune to rising prices of consumer products that we just accept them silently??

The government kept telling us that we are heading towards a high income society.. yet they never say how we are going to do it... our FDI is falling behind our ASEAN neighbors each year (meaning we should get more than we did).. our brain drain getting worse... seriously we need all the brains and brawn we can muster to weather this, and the next and the following many more, economic downturn/restructuring (or whatever the experts call it)..  yet our "leaders" continue to keep their heads firmly in the sands (or maybe even in concrete, which would kinda explains why they can't get their heads up and see the truth, however obvious it is)..

Even in a well-managed country like Singapore, the common people are feeling the (bad and unpleasant) effects of global competitiveness.. they want the good things that globalization brings, and they expect the government to minimize the negativity that came along, or the very least provide safety nets in case they fail/fall.. and they are not afraid to let the ruling party know about their unhappiness.. the PAP government vowed to re-look at their policies and take better care of its citizens after securing the lowest mandate in its history.. will this happen here? I doubt so..

Ringgit is strong, yet prices for almost everything is higher and is rising.. it doesn't make sense since logically our 'strong' currency is supposed to allow us to buy more with less.. On one hand, the government tell us that since Ringgit is strong, the country is doing great and 'semua okay'.. on the other hand it 'informs' us that we have to stop being "addicted" to subsidies else we'll go bankrupt in 2019 (one year before we're supposed to reach 'developed' state.. Mmmm...)..

When world oil prices goes up and Petronas is making loads of money, the government just kept quiet about the profits (and the massive corporate tax it is supposed to pay the government) but instead cuts fuel subsidies and increase electricity tariff (cos another GLC that is 'suffering').. When the prices goes down, the government again kept mum and start 'creating' multi-billion projects.. So do forgive me if  I tend to believe him more than him..

And seriously, I think the country has nothing left in its treasury.. the government is doing everything it can to continue to wring more money out from this country, into their own pockets and their cronies', before the country reaches the point of no redemption.. Else, how would you explain, among other things, our sudden willingness in agreeing to that asylum swap which came out of nowhere ( read here and here) and the planning of another bond sale (expected to fetch $1 trillion) after one (worth $1.25 billion) was just sold a year ago..

I am so sick and tired of all the "nice pictures" painted by the government.. everyday, there will be some billion ringgit initiatives and/or projects being launched with no clear tangible indication on how these will bring in the promised benefits.. All previous mulit-billion projects would just fade away from collective memory, together with all the money poured in, making some cronies richer and everyone else poorer.. There is a Masterplan here.. a multi-billion ringgit project here, there and there, just to name a few... And how is it that the subsidy spending could still grow when prices have been raised for so many essentials?? Some of the stuff that has gone up recently: sugar, petroluem (RON 97), beverages from this and this company..

So don't be surprise that come June, or maybe even earlier, we'll have more price increases: electricity tariff, cooking oil, cooking gas, flour, rice and many more controlled items, on top of everything else.. Your daily teh-tarik and roti canai might just cost 50% more in the coming 2-3 months.. Tighten your belt and/or devise (and execute) an 'escape' plan, before it is too late..