Up, up and AWAY!

First it was petrol prices, then it was the electricity tariffs,then assessment rates then now the inevitable has happened, water tariffs. In the past year alone, all these things have been going only one way, and that is up. And on the other end of the spectrum, the quality of the petrol and water have remained either consistently bad or it just gets worse.

If you live in Ampang, it is not unusual to find that the water that gushes out of the taps after you have not been home for a few days, to be yellow and rusty. In Selangor and KL, you only get clean water after you have installed numerous filters. And yet, the Ministry finds it fit to increase the tariffs. After all the rationale is that they have not increased it in years. Who cares about the quality? Who cares if the water is not for consumption before having to boil it for at least 2 times? The fact that it hasn't been raised for many years makes it a necessity!

And the Government told us that the price in petrol was increased to save revenue from the subsidy of petrol which in turn will be used to improve on infrastructure and public transport. The last time I checked,

1) KL sentral station is still disconnected from the monorail,which means if you were in a wheelchair, you would probable have to take a dive from the 1st floor to the ground floor of kl sentral or try to squeeze yourself and your wheelchair into the tiniest lift(together with the laziest people in the world, who cannot take a walk down ONE flight of stairs) and then wheel yourself across the road which has a divider in between and wedge yourself on the escalator to get to the monorail station(an incredible feat but do-able in the mind of the Government).

2)Putra LRT is perpetually jammed up during peak hours, STAR Lrt can somehow overshoot the rail(like WTF?), and of course, these trains are always encountering some sort of technical failure.

3)A massive jam is inevitable during the festive season(or any other time if you live in the city). Even the tolled highway which supposedly gets you to places faster if you pay RM1.50 is almost always jammed.

4) People still complain about bad bus services and the buses still emit noxious fumes due to bad maintenance of buses.

Hurrah! The money has obviously been put to good use!

Lest we forget how much of these inconveniences is NOTHING compared to how much the Government saves from reducing the subsidy of petrol, many a billboards have been put up to remind you about it. Of course nobody actually knows where the money which has been "saved" has been channeled to. And who knows whose pocket it has taken residence in.

As far as I know, I do not see any improvement in anything. Status quo has been maintained since the new Government took over. And as much as I want to say, I 'heart' Pak Lah, I find it hard to utter these words when I do not see any improvement in the country, except empty promises being delivered each day by the puppets of the Government. Those who flout the law are not reprimanded or punished, those Ministers who do not bother attending parliament are not reprimanded either, customs "close one eye" to a lot things, AP fiasco and I always wonder, why is it that all Ministers have so much money? Why?

The latest I heard, petrol prices are increasing soon. Well, the Government DID say there will be no more increases THIS year, but they didn't say anything about next year.

I wait with anticipation and bated breath.