Expectedly Unexpected

Finally, someone from Malaysia Today has voiced something that I thought was ridiculous in the first place.

The Government is Misleading Us About the Hike in Petrol Prices and RON Rating

Malaysia Today

5 September 2009

I’m quite fed up with The Star. They already have a sordid reputation of spinning cover for the government, and they still continue to do so even after getting lambasted online time and time again. They are really HOPELESS.

Recently, they posted a piece on the increase (yet another) in petrol price as the government discontinued RON92 petrol and replaced it with RON95. The government made use of the switch to increase the price of RON95 by 5 cents and jacked the price of RON97 all the way to RM 2.05 per liter, which is 25 cents (13.9%) higher.

This was what the Star wrote :

Quote:

How will you benefit from the new RON95 petrol? by LEONG HUNG YEE PETALING JAYA: RON95 was the buzz at neighbourhood petrol stations as consumers had to quickly grasp the differences between the RON92 (which is discontinued) and RON97 (which has been upgraded) and the new, more environment friendly oil. The first thing they want to know is how they will benefit from this change to RON95 which retails at RM1.80 per litre. “About 90% of motorists using RON97 (which has been upgraded to a premium product and sold at a higher price of RM2.05 per lire) can now switch to RON95,” said Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumer Affairs Ministry secretary-general Datuk Zain Mohd Dom. “The price of RM1.80 for RON95 will be capped at this level for the rest of the year,’’ Zain told StarBiz, referring to a statement earlier by Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. “It moves within an active price range, depending on the price trend of oil gauged over a one-month period.’’ All this while, consumers have been using RON97 which is too powerful for cars today. “Take a look at car manuals and one will often find that RON95 is recommended,’’ said Zain, adding that RON97 had stronger ingredients that were more suitable for higher powered cars. RON (research octane number) measures the octane quality of fuel. It refers to the fuel’s ability to resist premature and uncontrolled combustion that occurs when fuel pre-ignites before ignition by the spark plug. The newly-introduced RON95 fuel is priced at RM1.80, five sen higher than that of RON92, which is leaded petrol. Concurrently, RON97 has been upgraded as a premium product and its price has gone up to RM2.05 from RM1.80. Ismail had said at a press conference on Tuesday although the price of RON95 was higher, the Government was still subsidising 33.81 sen per litre, which comes up to about RM304mil monthly. He said the upward revision of the prices was necessary as the global crude oil price had doubled since the announcement by former minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad in March that RON95 would be sold at RM1.75. Currently, the Government is subsidising 42.72 sen per litre for RON97. While consumers who were using RON92 are required to pay more when they upgrade to RON95, those using RON97 and are able to downgrade to RON95 will save 25 sen per litre. According to car manufacturers, as long as the fuel used is not below the minimum RON requirement (RON91), it would be appropriate for any vehicle. Given that 90% of all cars can use the newly-launched RON95, this should provide savings for most consumers. All Perodua and Proton cars are compatible with RON95. “What you need to do is find out whether your car can run on RON95 or not. This information should be available in your car manual or on a sticker near your fuel flap,” an industry player A BMW Malaysia spokesman said there were no problems with RON95, in general, for BMW models although there was no technical data on performance. Performance cars such as Suzuki Swift Sport, Honda Civic Type R, Mitsubishi Airtrek Turbo, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Range Rover and Skoda 200FSI are incompatible with RON95. Owners of cars that are incompatible with RON95 will have to fork out an extra RM10 for every 40 litres of RON97. Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Mohzani Wahab said the company remained confident that its revenue would increase this year, despite the anticipated lower sales of Shell Super 97 (RON97) due to the 25 sen price difference from the price of RON95. Mohzani said the RON95 had received encouraging response from motorists so far. Meanwhile, it was reported that Petronas Dagangan Bhd expected its RON95 fuel to register 95% sales. The company started selling RON95 in May and 65% of its consumers had opted for RON95 against RON92. said.

This isn’t the first time the government has attempted to delude the public about RON rating. Neither is this the first time The Star has done their bit to spin the story for the government and pass fallacy for fact. Greatly displeased, I wrote to the editors of The Star :

Quote:

I’m writing in reference to the piece “How will you benefit from the new RON95 petrol?” by Leong Hung Yee. I’m no motorhead but this is a misleading piece of spin. Here are the reasons why : 1. RON97 petrol, before and now, is the same product. It was not “upgraded” as the writer mentioned. 2. The government had earlier promised that the price for petrol will remain until the end of the year. The statement that RON95 will be capped at RM 1.80 is nothing more than an attempt to cover up the price hike. Then again, he’s a politician. 3. RON number does not measure the octane “quality” of the fuel. The octane rating is a measure of the RESISTANCE of petrol to premature detonation. It has nothing to do with fuel quality. The word “quality” should have never been mentioned, unless it was inserted intentionally to mislead the reader. 4. RON97 has “stronger” ingredients? A higher octane rating merely means the fuel is more resistant to premature detonation. It doesn’t mean the fuel is stronger or has stronger ingredients. 5. RON92 is NOT leaded petrol! Leaded petrol has been discontinued in Malaysia for years. RON92 is simply unleaded petrol with a Research Octane Number of 92! Seriously, has the journalistic and editorial quality at The Star dropped so low that neither the journalist or the editor bothered to do a little fact-checking before publishing the piece? If you do print a correction, please do inform the public that using petrol with a higher RON rating that your car’s engine supports is a waste of money. Petrol with a higher RON rating will NOT deliver better performance. If your car supports RON 91, then RON 91 is good enough.

I e-mailed that to them at 2:23 PM on Thursday, September 3rd. No response until today. No surprise.

As we approach Merdeka, I’m not exactly sure whether to be happy or sad about it. After 52 years of independence,  Malaysia has reached a new low in almost every aspect of life I can think of. Politics, crime, environmental pollution, economy, protests, etc.

I remember reading earlier this year, Kuala Lumpur is ranked the 4th most dangerous city to be in the WORLD! Not in South East Asia, not in Asia, IN THE WORLD! Looking at the other cities in the list, it’s unbelievable that KL is 4th in the list.

National crime rate increased 15% in 2006, and has been increasing ever since. 97% of the population feel unsafe while only 1% feel safe to be living in this country.

KL is also ranked the 3rd most environmentally polluted city in the world, after Bangalore and Chandigarh in India. The “haze season” seemed to be worsening every year and respiratory illnesses is increases year after year.

Recent protests (which shall not be named here) caused racial tensions and tipping the country into another May 13. Political parties’ internal and external conflicts ripple throughout the country, with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else except themselves. No one ever admits that they are wrong and move on. Instead, blame others and it goes in a circle. Again and again.

Worst is the economy. Being a fresh graduate, I feel the tight grip of the recession rippling through the country’s economy. Even Singapore is now out of the recession, but where are we? Still stuck in a recession even after several financial boosts from the government.

Just read the papers today, in order to achieve developed nation status by 2020, out economy needs to grow by 8% every year or else, Vision 2020 will all be for nothing but a national gimmick. An embarrassment to the country and a laughing stock for everyone else.

Independence Day is in 2 days. Wonder if I should be happy or sad? Who will bridge this gap?

Day 6 in Malaysia and I’m still severely jet lagged. Rolled around on the bed for 2 hours last night because I couldn’t sleep at all. My 1 week quarantine is almost over, but technically I didn’t quarantine myself at home. I just quarantined myself from my friends.

Malaysian are overly paranoids about this swine flu thing. All of them think that the minute the get it, they’ll definitely DIE! I blame this on the media for aggregating their swine flu stories. Either that or Malaysians don’t know how to read the papers. It’s CLEARLY STATED that those who died with swine flu had SERIOUS UNDERLYING HEALTH PROBLEMS. Unless Malaysians English standards has deteriorated beyond belief, serious underlying health problems is easily understandable.

On a heavier note, it’s the haze season once again. The dry season always brings in the haze from neighbouring Indonesia. To make things worse, it’s getting from bad to worse every year! The WHO should charge the Indonesian government for letting their citizens burn their forests down without any control whatsoever! This is giving us Malaysians lots of respiratory illnesses that is completely unnecessary.

To end things on a lighter note, more pics from my Eurotrip!

Chateau Versailles Royal Courtyard

Tour Eiffel

Personally, if our Prime Minister wants to change the New Economic Policy (NEP), I wouldn’t mind if its still there just that the government should change the policy to cater to the poor and needy instead of covering all Malays. Obviously the rich Malays don’t need any discounts for housing and preferential treatment to enter universities as they can send thier kids overseas for a much better education. They already have all the money, why do they still need more discounts on housing while the poor Malays still can’t even afford to buy a small low cost house?

The NEP should only apply to the group of Malays that earn below a certain amount. This will assure that no one can abuse the NEP for their own benefit (if the rumours are true) and everyone will be happy. The rich ones don’t need it as I’m sure their paychecks is proof that they have arrived at the corridors of success. The Chinese and Indians agreed to give the Malays privileges in order to get our citizenship 50 years ago, hence, as a Malaysian Chinese I should honour that agreement although it fundamentally goes against several human rights laws.

If the government implemented these changes mentioned above, Malaysia would be a better place and everyone will be happy.

CHIA TING HING

LOVING AND CARING GRANDFATHER

1919-2009

I miss you grandpa!

Why some groups of people still want to continue to be taught science and maths in a language that’s not used by anyone else in the world, making our kids incompetent when they leave for tertiary education? Obviously these people are very narrow minded…

-__-

The Star

March 7, 2009

Crowd disperses; 124 arrested, police on standby

KUALA LUMPUR: Riot police fired tear gas into several hundreds of people marching to Istana Negara to protest the use of English in the teaching of Mathematics and Science at 2.40pm Saturday.

But by 3.20pm, the police and Federal Reserve Unit were successful in dispersing the crowd.

Police detained 124 people for questioning. Among those spotted in the crowd were Pas President Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and Mohd Sabu.

About 200 people ran away to the mosque, regrouped there but dispersed after evening prayers.

The march and the subsequent rain has caused massive traffic jams in the city.

The crowd had gathered at Masjid Negara earlier and started to march to the Palace and were close to the Tun Sambanthan building when riot police began shooting tear gas.

Many in the crowd ran away as the scene filled with smoke. The Federal Reserve unit trucks were initially stuck in traffic but caught up with the crowd and also started firing tear gas.

The crowd had planned to submit a memorandum to the King, appealing for the return of the use of Bahasa Malaysia in the teaching of the two subjects.

However, in the midst of the chaos, police escorted Gapena’s Datuk A Samad Said to the Palace gates and he handed the memorandum to someone in the guardhouse.

The police and FRU have thrown a safety perimeter at the Istana gates and are still on standby.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said the group, initially led by Gapena’s Datuk Hassan Ahamd, Datuk A Samad Said and Dr. Shaharil MD Zain, had agreed there would not be gatherings or demonstrations during their discussions with the KL CPO deputy Comm Datuk Wira Mohd Sabtu Osman.

“They agreed to send representatives into the Istana after the Zohor prayers but when political parties like PAS and PKR got involved, it became an illegal gathering and demonstration.

“We had no choice but to use tear gas to disperse the crowd who refused to listen to police warnings,” he said.

Musa said the police control centre in Bukit Aman and the City police were deluged with angry callers as there were massive jams all over the city.

He said he had asked for reinforcements to ensure city dwellers were protected and not inconvenienced by irresponsible political parties.

“I assure the public that stern action will be taken against those involved in organising the demonstrations.

“They are not fighting for democracy but are demo crazy,” he added.

He said city police have identified those involved and police would do the necessary to bring them to book.

Independent Member of Parliament for Pasir Mas Datuk Ibrahim Ali believed the march by Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI was only for political mileage and should have only been carried out as a ‘last resort’.

“The Government has said that it would come to a decision soon so this march is unnecessary,” he told reporters on Saturday.

He added that NGOs should engage in more dialogue with political parties and the Government in order to carry their agendas through.

“There is no need to take to the streets. They would have no credibility if they do so,” he said

Source

Someone finally says what is actually happening in the government. About it! Zaid FTW!

The Star

23 February 2009

Zaid: Govt institutions are no longer neutral

GEORGE TOWN: The institutions of Government in the country are no longer neutral and this is causing democracy to crumble, said former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

“In a democracy, the institutions of government must be neutral and professionally run. You can’t have the police taking sides or the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) making statements supporting one side or the other.

“Twenty years ago, we lost the bench with the judicial crisis and the sacking of judges.

“That was the start and after that, we started losing other institutions of government like the media and with this, you can’t have a democracy,” Zaid said in his speech at the Penang Medical Practitioners Society Fellowship dinner here last night.

“I’m concerned about the state of democracy in this country and the hollowness of our institutions that people no longer respect,” he said.

On politics, Zaid said it had turned into a game of competition where everyone was out to protect their own.

He claimed today, this partnership has broken down in Barisan Nasional and likewise, “if PAS and DAP keep fighting and are not able to present a credible alternative and partnership to the people, then they (Pakatan rakyat) are also in trouble.”

Source

Read this first…

Leave others out, says Syed Hamid

The Star

11 January 2009

KOTA TINGGI: It is wrong and unnecessary for Hindraf to ask India to intervene in Malaysia’s domestic affairs, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

“They should not invite foreign governments to intervene if they are not happy with our country,” he said.

Syed Hamid said he had never heard of the Chinese community asking the Chinese government to intervene when they had any grievances about the country.

It was reported on Friday that Hindraf chairman P. Waytha Moorthy’s had called on the Indian government to impose trade sanctions on Malaysia, at the conference of the Indian Diaspora in Chennai, India, attended by about 1,600 delegations from 46 countries.

Waytha Moorthy, who is on a self-imposed exile abroad, had called for the sanctions for what he claimed was the ill-treatment of Indian Malaysians.

Speaking to reporters in Kampung Sentosa, Tanjung Sedili, here, Syed Hamid said the person calling for the sanctions had the choice of remaining a Malaysian citizen or becoming the citizen of another country.

Then read this…

Syed Hamid backs call for Israel to be tried

The Star

11 January 2009

KOTA TINGGI: Israel should be tried at the war crimes tribunal for committing state terrorism.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said that Israel’s actions in Gaza went against the Geneva Convention.

“There is no justification for the excessive killing of innocent civilians,” he said after launching the gotong-royong programme at Kampung Sentosa in Tanjung Sedili yesterday.

He also called on all Islamic countries and those who believed in peace, to rally together and oppose Israel’s atrocities.

“We must all unite and start a mass movement in going against Israel and those who support them.

“America must also take responsibility as they are condoning Israel’s attacks on Gaza,” he said in echoing the call by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the United Nations to set up a war crimes tribunal against the Israeli government for its “primitive killing” of Palestinians.

Isn’t it ironic? Just when he said that foreign countries shouldn’t get involved in Malaysia’s domestic affairs, he talks about putting Israel on trial for their “domestic” affairs which has nothing whatsoever to do with us?

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you

Jesus – The Bible (Matthew 7:12)