Subsidy cut

The government has started to implement gradual removal of subsidies for petrol, sugar and other consuming products as the price of Ron95 has gone up by 5 sen, LPG plus 10 sen while sugar price has gone up 25 sen a kg. Like it or not, we have to learn to cope with the increasingly high living expenditures arising from the cutting of subsidies to avoid the country from becoming bankrupt as what lamented by Idris Jala.

Each and every year the government spends billions on subsidies, and its purpose is none other than helping the poor folks to cope with the ever increasing cost of living. The gap between the rich and poor in this country is one of the most alarming one in the world as reported recently. Let’s not talk about demography and all these highly complicated social complexities but just focus at a company for instance, a worker or junior staff is drawing around RM 700 to RM 1000, but the highly paid senior managers can draw up to RM 15,000 – RM 25,000 a month. See how big the gap is. And all the prices for the consuming products are the same no matter how poor or rich you are.

As the rich people are coping well with the gradual removal of subsidies, the poor will continue to suffer. As there will be chain reactions, petrol gone up, everything else also going up and the cost of living becomes burdening. As the rich fellas continue to vroom theirs expensive cars on the roads, the middle class find it harder to pay the installments of their Proton and the poor fellas are forever struggling with the poor service of public transport.

Like it or not, polarization is becoming more and more alarming. And how the government is going to use the saving derived from the cutting on subsidies? Hopefully not to benefit only their cronies.