Reverse the Burden

The petrol price increase has spawned lots of interesting and eye-catching feedback, hasn't it? From right here in cyber-space to the sms columns of the newspapers and even the main columns and comments, there have been angry responses, angrier responses, and even more angry responses. The common theme among most of the response has been the anger, hasn't it?

No one can blame us folks for venting our anger out now, can they? I mean, on one hand we have to deal with the increase. Then we also have to deal with the inconsistencies of our government in relationship to the price increase. It's like that popular song "Jenny", where the words go something like, First you say you won't, Then you say you will, .... Jenny, what's the problem?

The quantum of increase is also something that we ordinary joes got to worry about. An increase of 78.4 cents (NOT 78 cents as announced by Badawi) per liter is no small or laughing matter to us ordinary joes. Believe me, or if you don't believe me, read my previous posting of an anonymous letter from cyberspace.

Then as if to compound our misery further, every sole trader, partnership, enterprise, sdn. bhd.co, bhd co, legal or illegal company will try to pass on the cost of the increasing prices to us, the unfortunate consumer.

So not only do we have to suffer the increase in price, but to cushion these business folk, we have to suffer the increase in price for them as well. What can we do? They have all of us by the balls. We need to cook and feed the kids, right? The gas man is going to increase the price because he can't sustain. The market guy is going to sell his greens for higher because he can't sustain.

I read in one of the comments in MT earlier that a school bus driver already asked for RM 9 more from each parent saying, yup you guessed it, I can't sustain. And it's been hardly two days since the announcement.

Today's papers quote some Datuk OK Lee as saying that manufacturers will definitely pass the cost on to the consumer because otherwise they won't be able to sustain and will have to go out of business.

So every fellow out there who has got something to sell is going to raise his selling price to the end consumer because he or she cannot sustain his or her business. And where does the end consumer go for recourse? Work overtime? Get a second job? Sell the car? Sell the house? Sell the kids? Heck, why don't you just sell yourself? I'm sure there're folks out there who'd pay good money for virgin arses.

Why can't these businesses sustain themselves? What is wrong with their fundamentals? Aren't they prepared for the uncertainties that come together with being in business? As far as I know, the only businesses that are financially risk free are if you run a brothel or a religious centre (Wow, imagine that).

These business owners should realize that they are punishing the wrong folk by increasing their prices and squeezing the ordinary folk. They should hit out at the government for this, not their customers.

Let me make a suggestion to you business folk out there. I don't care if you're a stall selling sweets in the pasar malam, or you're a giant cement producing corporation, this suggestion is for you. Instead of passing on the increased cost of operating to your customers, why don't you pass it on to the government instead for a change?

How? Simple, don't increase your prices. Sell at the same current prices. Your profits will go down, you say? How much has it gone down? If it went down by 50,000 ringgit, deduct 50,000 ringgit from the amount you need to pay the government in your end of year taxes. See how they like it then. Yeah, but it's illegal, you say? Well anything that brings about good for the people can't be all that bad can it? And anyway, the government's not going to become bankrupt by this as they are saving roughly 15 billion ringgit right?

Well, there you have it... Now do I see any corporation or business entity brave or selfless enough to take the first step towards this? Or is the plight of the ordinary people as important to you as it is to our government?