Gasoline Surges 41%

And so the day begins with a 41 percent jump in gasoline prices to 2.70 ringgit a liter, for the 97-RON grade. 41 percent. Ouch.
If you had been pumping 50 ringgit of gasoline into your car till yesterday, today that same amount of the liquid gold would cost you 70 ringgit.
If you had been paying 70 ringgit each time, now it's 100 ringgit.
Now, does that hurt or what.
We shouldn't be so furious, I'd say. After all, we'd been shielded from a fuel-price increase in the past two years. In Australia, prices for the drivers have surged 60 percent in the past year.
In Singapore, the 95-RON is going to S$2.186 a liter (latest info from May 23). That's 5 ringgit. So phew, we are such lucky Malaysians.
But wait, no! Just a minute. What gets my goat is the lack of options! In Singapore and Australia, one could take the train, the bus.
At the Raffles Place MRT station, changing trains mean crossing the platform, or taking the escalators to another level of the station.
Anyone been to the Masjid Jamek interchange lately? To change trains, cross the road at your own peril. Sure, there's a zebra crossing but it's not even sheltered. When it rains, I can't even cross that road without getting into puddles that are at least a few inches deep.
And taking the train means I have to rely on SF to drop me off at the station in the morning. Reasons:
(1) not safe to leave my car at the carpark if I drive there. Car could be gone when I return.
(2) not safe for me to walk alone in the carpark at 6+ a.m. or at 7+ p.m.

And not safe to take the cab on my own to head home from the train station.
So, tell me, oh wonderful ministers, have you ever had a day of commuting to work on public transportation in the Klang Valley?

Penangites Rock!

Penang has terrific food. There's the delicious, juicy "or-chien" (oyster in omelette) from New World Park, ordered as soon as we got off the plane on March 8.
This island also has some old shops that transport you back to the 70's if you just stand there and stare at it.


And of course, there are the wonderful Penang friends. Heng Hou said we should get up there more often. He's right. We'll make time to be there for weekend visits. Making time is what we can do and we'll do that.


But the best has to be Penangites. They turned up at polling stations on March 8 and booted Barisan Nasional out of the island! I take my hat off to you, Penangites.

Go, Malaysians, Go

What an astounding message for the ruling coalition: We don't want your style of rule!
This, I dedicate to you. Go, Malaysians, go.

We want you to know
That we saw through your show
You failed to heed
Our pleas, our needs
So we sent you a message
Your cover we will blow

Gone are the days
When you could take it slow
Treated us as reeds
Ignored protests in the streets
And you sure are no sage
To have been blind to all that's on show.

No corruption, more security please
And our family's safety we don't kid
Our deeds
Will be recorded for all to read.

Indelible Ink Not

We Malaysians are a lucky lot. We can change our minds any time. And so it was with the Elections Commission. Those people there, being Malaysians, backpedaled on a long-thought-out decision to mark our pretty fingers with ink on polling day. All of four days before the big day too, and after spending 2.4 million ringgit on the ink imported from India. If it costs 40,000 ringgit (based on my very-smart spouse's estimate) to build a low-cost home, that's homes for 60 poor families.