Something Malaysian's Should Know

WHAT IS NEVER MENTIONED IN Mainstream Media like NST/TheStar/ Utusan/BHare these facts....Malaysian PerCapita Income USD 5000 VS Singaporean PerCapita Income USD 25000

Further The Star made a comparison of prices in Thailand , Singaporeand Indonesia . For Thailand it is quoted at RM3.90/liter, however arethey aware that in Thailand new cars are cheaper than Malaysia byRM10,000?

They pay only one life time for their driving license? Norenewal fee after that? Also that goes for road tax as well? And doTheStar also aware that you can drive all the way from Hadtyai toBangkok on a six lane highway without paying any Tolls ??!! THESTAR

Whereas here in Malaysia you have to pay yearly renewal for road tax,driving license and TOLLS, TOLLS, TOLLS!!!！For Singapore how can you quote RM 5.20? Please quote in SingaporeDollars because they are earning in Sing Dollars. You might as well sayEuropeans are paying RM10/liter. RM5.20/liter = Sing $ 2.20/liter,still cheaper than Malaysia in view of fact that Singapore is not acrude oil exporter. Are you saying that you fill up petrol in Singaporeby paying Ringgit?

In economy, dollar to dollar must be compared as apple to apple. Notcomparing like durian in M'sia is much cheaper than durian in Japan !! Ofcourse-lah, Japan is not durian producer!!! Comparing Malaysian durian with Thailand durian make more sense!!

Now, let us compare the price with OIL PRODUCING countries:

>>> UAE RM1.19/litre

>>> Eygpt RM1.03/litre

>>> Bahrain RM0.87/litre

>>> Qatar RM0.68/litre

>>> Kuwait RM0.67/litre

>>> Saudi Arabia RM0.38/litre

>>> IranRM0.35/litre

>>> Nigeria RM0.32/litre

>>> Turkmenistan RM0.25/litre

>>> Venezuela RM0.16/litre

>>> MALAYSIA RM2.70/litre RM 2.70!!!

Individual perspective: As of last month a Toyota Vios would 'cause a damage' of about RM89,000. In the international market, a Toyota Vios is about USD 19,000USD 19,000 = RM 62,700 (using the indicative rates of USD 1 = RM 3.30)That makes Malaysian Vios owners pay an extra RM 26,300.

This RM 26,300 should be cost of operations, profit and tax because thetransportation costs have been factored in to the USD 19,000.RM 26,300/ RM625 petrol rebate per year translates to a Vios being usedfor 42.08 years.I do understand that the RM 625 is a rebate given by the government, but it also means that one has to use the Vios for42.08 years just to make back the amount paid in taxes for the usage ofa foreign car. Would anyone use any kind of car for that long?

Now with these numbers in front of us, does the subsidy sound like a subsidy ordoes it sound like a penalty? This just seems to be a heavy incrementin our daily cost of living as we are not only charged with high cartaxes but also with a drastic increase in fuel price.

I urge all Malaysians to join me inanalyzing the situation further. Car taxation is government profit, fuel sales is Petronas' (GLC) profitwhich also translates into government profit. The government mayridicule us Malaysians by saying look at the world market and fuelprice world wide. Please, we are Malaysians, we fought of the British,had ainternational port in the early centuries (Malacca), home to a raciallymixed nation and WE ARE NOT STUPID!!!

We know the international rates are above the USD 130/barrel. Weunderstand the fact that the fuel prices are increasing worldwide andwe also know that major scientist are still contradicting on why thisphenomenon is happening. Some blame Bush and his plunders around theworld and some blame climate change and there are others which saypetroleum 'wells' are getting scarce.

Again we go back to numbers to be more straight forward.

1 barrel = 159 liters x RM2.70/liter = RM 429 or USD 134。 On 1 hand, weare paying the full cost of 1 barrel of crude oil with RM2.70 per literbut on the other hand the crude oil only produces 46% of fuel.

Msia sells crude oil per barrel at USD130 buys back Fuel per barrel atUSD134. And not forgetting, every barrel of fuel is produced with 2barrels of crude oil.

>>> if 1 barrel crude oil = produce 46% fuel (or half of crude oil), therefore >>> 2 barrel crude oil = approximately 1 barrel fuel

In other words, each time we sell 2 barrels of crude oil, equivalentlywe will buy back 1 barrel of fuel. Financially, Malaysia sell 2 barrelcrude oil @ USD 130/barrel = USD 260 = RM 858 then, Malaysia will buyback fuel @ USD 134/barrel = RM 442/barrel Thus, Malaysia earn netextra USD 126 = RM 416 for each 2 barrel of crude sold/exported vsimported 1 barrel of fuel !!!>>> (USD 260-134 = USD 126 = RM416)

So where this extra USD 126/barrel income is channeled to by Malaysian Govt????????

Another analysis:>>> 1 barrel crude oil = 159 liters. >>> 46-47% of a barrel of crude oil = fuel that we use in our vehicles. >>> 46% of 159 = 73.14 liters. >>> @ RM 2.70/liter x 73.14 liter = RM197.48 of fuel per barrel of crude oil.

This is only 46% of the barrel, mind you. Using RM 3.30 = USD 1, we getthat a barrel of crude oil produces USD 59.84 worth of petrol fuel (46%of 1 barrel). USD 59.84 of USD 130/barrel turns out to be 46% of abarrel as well.

Another 54% = bitumen, kerosene, and natural gases and so many more.And this makes a balance of USD 70.16 that has not been accounted for.

So this is where I got curious. Where is the subsidy if we are paying46% of the price of a barrel of crude oil when the production ofpetrol/barrel of crude oil is still only 46%?

In actual fact, we still pay for this as they are charged in the formsof fuel surcharge by airlines and road taxes for the building of road(because they use the tar/bitumen) and many more excuse charging us butlet us just leave all that out of our calculations

As far as I know, only the politicians who live in Putrajaya and comefor their Parliament meetings in Kuala Lumpur (approximately 60+ km)are the ones to gain as they claim their fuel and toll charges from themoney of the RAKYAT's TAX

It is so disappointing to see this happen time and time again to theMalaysian public, where they are deceived by the propaganda held by the politicians and the controls they have over the press.

Which stupid idiot economist equates rebates for rich or poor with thecc of the vehicles? An average office clerk may own a second hand 1300ccproton Iswara costing $7,000 (rebate = $625) while the Datuk's childrencan own a fleet of 10 new cars of BMW, Audi and Volvo all less than2000cc costing $2 millions and get a total rebate of $625 x 10 =$6,250! Wow what kind of economists we are keeping inMalaysia....wonder which phD certificate that they bought from...

Misleading concept of Subsidy:

The word 'subsidy' has been brandished by the government as if it has so generously helped the rakyat and in doing so incurred losses.This simple example will help to explain the fallacy:'津

>>> Example: Ahmad is a fisherman. He sells a fish to you at $10 which is below themarket value of $15. Let's assume that he caught the fish from theabundance of the sea at little or no cost. Ahmad claims that since themarket value of the fish is $15 and he sold you the fish for $10, he hadsubsidised you $5 and therefore made a loss of $5.

>>> Question : Did Ahmad actually make a profit of $10 or lossof $5 which he claimed is the subsidy?

>> Answer:Ahmad makes a profit of $10 which is the difference of the sellingprice ($10) minus the cost price ($0 since the fish was caught from theabundance of the sea). There is no subsidy as claimed by Ahmad.

The government claims that it is a subsidy because the oil is keptand treated as somebody else's property (you know who). By right, theoilbelongs to all citizens of the country and the government is a trusteefor the citizens. So as in the above simple example, the governmentcannot claim that it has subsidised the citizen!

* This posting is just a personal opinion & analyst based on current event. I shall not take accountibility / should be liable for any damaged which might result from this posting. *

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