Every Malaysian Family Can Now Enter Oil Biz With Budi Madani Ron95 E Hailing Drivers Be Instant Oil Merchants

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BELIEVE me seven days from now (Sept 30), the number of usahawan (entrepreneur) e-hailing taxis will multiply. Because the e-hailing taxis are exempted from this most unintelligent petrol subsidies “irrationalisation” mechanism.
The e-hailing taxi guys will become ‘oil traders’ overnight. Or ‘petrol dealers’. Just wait and see.
And so will all Malaysians who have MyKads and car/motorcylce licenses. Say there is a family of five comprising the father, mother and three children with MyKad and driving licenses.
Each of them can buy 300 litres of subsidised petrol at RM1.99/litre and re-sell it at somewhere below RM2.60/litre (projected unsubsidised price for non-citizens). For a family of five, that is 1,500 litres of petrol each month. Welcome to the oil business.!
The exact same thing happened under the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) administration when a RM1.00/litre of diesel subsidy was allotted to Bumiputera fishermen.
Immediately, the fishermen started filling plastic containers full of diesel and re-selling to the ‘nons’, to the Thais etc.
And many of them stopped catching fish. Why catch fish when you can sell subsidised diesel to people who are willing to pay higher for it?
The fishermen became diesel traders. Back then, I already forewarned that this would happen. And indeed, that was what exactly happened.
The same thing is going to happen again now.

Half-baked system
The rationale behind this scheme is also as d*mb as it an be. “To prevent 3 million foreigners living in Malaysia from enjoying fuel subsidies”.
Are you suggesting that 3.0 million foreigners in Malaysia (Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Indians, Nepalis) are driving cars, trucks and vans? 99.9% of Bangladeshis ride bicycles.
Extremely few Bangladeshis ride motorcycles with one Bangladeshi in my area who is married to a local Malay drives an old car to run his business.
The same with the Indonesians and the Indian workers who work in the restaurants. Some Indonesians ride motorcycles and fewer of them drive cars.  They all earn minimum wages or thereabout.
Expatriate high wage workers (engineers, consultants etc) will certainly drive cars but how many millions of those do we have in Malaysia?
The FDI (foreign direct investment) is taking the jalan belakang (backdoor route) to get here with old MNCs (multinationals) on the verge of moving out of the country.
Estimate of savings Malaysian car owners can expect per full tank (Image credit: Naratif Rakyat  (@NaratifRakyat)/X)So exactly how many “foreigners” are you talking about? Does the Madani government have statistics on car and vehicle ownership among the 3.0 million “foreigners” living inside the country? Can you share the information? Or is that a top state secret? Under OSA (Official Secrets Act 1972)?
My guess is the cost of maintaining and operating this system (for sure someone is going to fleece public funds again) will be much higher than the savings it will generate. It is going to end up costing the taxpayers and the rakyat marhaen (man-on-the-street) even more money.
And now you have to swipe your MyKad at the gas station. Can the Madani government guarantee against ID (identity) theft or abuse of personal information, including the IC (identity card) number?

Scheduled subsidy cut
Why do these brain d*ad people keep coming up with these brain d*ad ideas?
Twenty-two long years ago in 2003 when the late Pak Lah began messing with petrol and diesel prices, I suggested that instead of these schemes (which all became scams) that his administration should just abolish all fuel subsidies. But you don’t do it overnight in one go.
Just say that every June 30 and December 31 over the next three or four years the petrol subsidy will be reduced by 10 sen or 20 sen every 12 months.
In three years or thereabouts, the entire petrol and diesel subsidies can be fully removed. And when you do so in a scheduled manner – gradually every six months and 10 sen at a time – the impact can be better absorbed and managed by the economy.

The manufacturers and businesses can adjust their cost calculations accordingly. There will not be crazy price increases across the economy.
They always like to make a mountain out of a molehill by putting up a drama. As always, there will always be some clever beggars waiting at the sidelines to take advantage of the situation. Somebody will make money.
Anyway, welcome to all the new tepi jalan (roadside) or belakang rumah (back alley) petrol dealerships that will spring up. But please do not add kerosene to the petrol – not only would this emit black smoke but damages car engine.
Syed Akbar Ali who blogs OutSyed The Box was a former member of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Panel on Consultation and Prevention of Corruption.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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