Toll

Yesterday the English Newspaper The Star published about the Toll and the come 1 Jan 2007 we are going to have to pay higher toll and the highest is 60% for LDP. When my wife first complaint about this a few days ago I gave her the justification for the increase without knowing that it goes up to 60%. My conclusion is, it is ridiculous and ming-bloggling.

Realistically, I like to think that the decision makers must be making a gamble over this issue as they could have felt that the increase in petrol, electricity, water, resulting an increase in bus fare, transportation and many more has not touched the nerves of the people. To me this is the last straw. I have to take action and do something about this as the danger of the decision makers making further attempts at increasing our cost of living.

The justification for increasing the toll is to reduce the subsidy. Honestly, I do not know about this and at the same time I do not believe a word they say. Something is really going wrong with the country and my fear is that social problems will rear its ugly head.

There are a lot of poor and helpless citizens of Malaysia and couple with their ignorance they are going to be worst off; maybe not. They may now resort to crime as the opportunities are great and the risks are manageable; that is what they would like to think. What have they to lose anyway?

I have p;eople who does a lot of social and charity work and from their reports it is sometime sickening just to hear of it at this modern age; how down they are. What has the government do about this? Each play 'tai chee' passing from to another and the soft hearted will again from their pockets to help. I am proud of these Malaysians, they are not rich and famous, but they are willing to give a Ringgit or two just to help someone.

Our own Sultan of Selangor made a bold statement on his birthday recently about how he wants the Government Servants should shoulder their responsibilities and help the citizens irrespective of race or religious beliefs. I know he knows that help is restricted to only a few and even for the few there are others who still wants to 'tax' from from.

Can our country go on like this? Can the people afford these increases all in one go? I think it is crazy. With cost rising steeply, stress starts to seep in and violence will be the consequences. Reading our newspapers in the last three years is terrible. Things that happen has never happened before, all because of the life pressure. Is our Leaders aware of the situation or are they just gambling with our future?

If the way things are going on, I am worried, the next election we will have a problem as many would have voted for the opposition just to show our displeasure but the consequence of this would be fatal for a country like ours; racial conflicts will surface and as a victim of one I shudder to think what will happen after that?

Please Mr Prime Minister, help us. Don't just run the country at your whim and fancy - we voted for you to make our life better and not to whack us with all these increases at one go.

If we need to increase, I do not mind but do it in stages and be more transparent. I know your strategy is to whack us one big one and then quiet down but the fact that you are doing this increase so regularly for different thing is still the same. Give us time to breath and adjust, they we will cooperate with you. Start a campaign to make people understand what you are doing and why you are doing it = so that enough mass understand it and they will vote for you next year; otherwise, I see problem looming.