Wednesday May 14, 2008

Time to tighten our belts and adjust lifestyle

Comment by V.K CHIN

EVEN without an increase in fuel prices, Malaysians must be prepared to tighten their belts since other local produce are likely to cost more.

They will need to adjust their lifestyle or their pockets will be badly hit. Petrol use should be the first to be curtailed since this is going to be a big expenditure for motorists.

Motorists will need to car-pool to work instead of each one using his own transport to go into major cities such as Kuala Lumpur and in the Klang Valley.

Unless a car is needed for their work, car-pooling is the best form of saving petrol, not to mention a drastic reduction in pollution.

Those who insist on getting about on their own wheels will just have to pay for this luxury. Car-pooling was suggested a few years back but it proved to be unpopular and the response was poor.

But back then the main concern was traffic congestion since many of the private cars entering Kuala Lumpur were single occupancy vehicles. Petrol was still relatively cheap and motorists were prepared to face the inconvenience of traffic jams.

However, with crude prices hovering above US100 a barrel, the situation has changed dramatically. The government cannot keep on subsidising it without sacrificing other projects of benefit to the people.

Due to rising imports of essential staple food such as rice, wheat and other items, the government has to ensure that their prices would not be too high for the people.

Otherwise, those from the lower income group may not have the money to buy such essential goods needed to feed their families. Should this be allowed to happen, the only result will be instability and chaos.

So families with several cars will have to dispose of one or two to manage their budgets. If they should refuse to face reality, then they should stop complaining of high petrol prices.

There is no choice really when it comes to either people having access to affordable basic foodstuff or keeping petrol prices artificially low just to keep car owners happy.

The food position is very serious, as world production of many staple commodities has dropped due to unpredictable weather or their being used for bio-fuel. The craze for bio-fuel is creating a huge drop in food production.

Locally, the high cost of ingredients for agriculture has also gone up and farmers are finding it difficult to make a profit despite the surge in rice production for example.

Padi farmers should be given a fair price. If they should find that they are being short-changed by buyers, they might decide to switch to other crops that will provide them with a higher income.

They can always turn to oil palm or even rubber where prices have been hitting record highs. Once these two crops can be harvested, the farmers can just sit back and earn thousands of ringgit a month.

There is also no need for them to keep replanting their crops unlike rice, which is a seasonal produce. It is backbreaking to plant padi and presently the return is just not worth the effort.

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