3 hell years for Malaysia under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

When the fuel price was increased in early 2006, the government with the idiotic Islam Hadhari Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the hike could not be avoided due to escalating world oil price at that time. But when the world oil price started to ease in the final quarter of the year, the government said NO when asked if the fuel price will be lowered accordingly.

Then comes the higher tariff for the electricity. A 12% increment. As usual, the lying Malaysian government told Malaysians that "our electricity rate is still the lowest in the region". Next, the water tariff. Water costs more in the self-declared state of Selangor. After numerous times of water tariff adjustments since the new millenium, Malaysians were promised that "the water will be cleaner". Of course, the ripples of these increments have caused higher living costs. Higher price for the favourite mee goreng (fried noodle), higher price for the vegetables, higher price for the public transportation etc.

And now, the sleepy Prime Minister of Malaysia has declared that his cruel government will "share the burden of the people" by increasing the toll rates of 5 major highways in the Klang Valley (with more toll increments for other highways in 2008). Knowing that more and more Malaysians no longer believe in what the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is saying, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had a closed-door meeting with the editors-in-chief of all newspapers and television stations in the country, telling them not to play up the toll increments.


Cruel toll increments of 5 major highways in the Klang Valley

Meanwhile, Works Minister Samy Vellu defended the toll increments, saying that "the toll rate is RM0.136 per kilometre for us, it is RM0.227 in Thailand". Either the bald Works Minister is fooling the people or he really does not know that there's no tolled-highway from Bukit Kayu Hitam (Malaysia) all the way to the capital Bangkok on toll-free highways.

Billions of ringgit of the people's money were wasted to bail out ailing companies. A total of RM11 billion was pumped to rescue companies under weak bumiputera leadership such as the Putra LRT (RM4.5 billion), STAR LRT (RM 3 billion) and Malaysia Airlines (RM2.8 billion). Useless and wasteful projects worth RM1 trillion were announced so far.


Malaysia's STAR LRT train crashed the end of the track in Kuala Lumpur

But the Malaysian government choose not to take over the 5 highways in the Klang Valley (total takeover costs will be RM4.3 billion) to scrap the toll collection to truly ease the burden of the people. Instead, the government is happier to "help the people" by paying RM2.6 billion of the people's money annually to the highway companies as part of a compensation for not increasing the tolls even higher.

The government (which last increased the civil servants pay in 1992) has not entertained the civil servants' plea for a salary revision - some of the civil servants earn below the poverty line. Even if the government agrees to a 40% increment of the salaries as requested by the civil servants, it will only costs an additional RM6 billion, which is a no-match when compared with Petronas' RM41.7 billion income tax to the government last year.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during his interview with The Bangkok Post has said that, "the old man (former premier Tun Dr. Mahathir) practically smashed (my son-in-law) Khairy's pot of rice". The half-past six Prime Minister did not realised that he has smashed the pot of rice of many Malaysians out there. And during his interview with CNN, the premier has said that the Malaysian Chinese should be grateful.