I woke up this morning to receive a shocking sms from NH.

“Dude wake up. Anwar accused of sodomy again”

I tried to reply his sms and fired up my Digi Internet but to no avail, because I did not pay my outstanding bill haha! End up calling Digi and made the payment through the phone. Only now I have the chance to get on the internet and read on the issue.

I have yet to read much on this but.. just few comments and interesting links to share.

So, another sodomy report against Anwar Ibrahim? Come on, come up with something new. Old trick cannot be used many times. Bodoh! This is the second time that such a report had been lodged in over 10 years. According to the police report filed by his 23-year-old aide yesterday, the sodomy allegedly committed by de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim took place “in a condo in the Damansara area”. The following police report was made on 28 June 2008 at 5.45 PM by Mohd Saiful Bukhari bin Azlan, who turns 23 next week (IC No. 850706-01-5687):

“Saya Mohd Saiful Bukhari b Azlan ingin melaporkan bahawa saya telah diliwat oleh majikan saya. Perkara ini berlaku tanpa kerelaan saya. Kejadian terakhir berlaku 26/6/08 di Unit 1151, Kondominium Desa Damansara, Jln Setia Kasih, KL. Oleh itu, tujuan laporan ini dibuat untuk mendapat pembelaan dan keadilan keatas diri saya. Saya juga berasa bimbang dengan keselamatan diri dan keluarga saya jika perkara ini tersebar luas di khalayak ramai. Majikan saya Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim – Ketua Umum PKR.”

Me: The accuser does not have a time where the incident was alleged to have happen. What kind of sloppy, dumb report is this? How is the accused going to prepare his defense of alibi?

Let us look at the whole thing carefully.

What are the information that we have? In this issue we should take a look the background of the individuals involved.

1st, Anwar Ibrahim (AI). He was accused of sodomy and corruption in 1998. He was found guilty for both charges but the sodomy charge was overturned, six years after he served his time in jail. There are many rumours flying around regarding AI sexuality. Some swore that they saw AI dating ‘lelaki jambu'(pretty boy) before. (Hmm… those who admitted that AI sodomised them – Dr. Munawar and AI’s driver both also not handsome and jambu. Fugly. Sukma? Well.. I don’t want to comment, leave that to STP hahahaha! :D) Only AI and his god knows whether he did what he was accused. I personally think he is not into backdoor entry and even if he is, that is his personal choice. I reserved the same opinion for Chua Soi Lek. I am not supporting the actions, but I sure condemn those that forever on their high moral pedestals – self elected moral guardians. Self appointed moral guardians irk me. Get a life, pls?

2nd. Who is Saiful Bukhari – the accuser? According to many inviduals that personally know this guy, he is what we call ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’. Malays say ‘Musang berbulu ayam’. The are reports saying this guy was Najib’s strong man, ex-UMNO guy. He gained entry to AI political circle through his friend after ‘repented’ and left AMNO.

Saiful Bukhari, the accuser. Jambu?? 😈

(Image source: here)

There are few interesting links to read on this: (Take note of the entries’ date and read the comments. The comments are more interesting than the entries.)

Selamat Maju Jaya, Saiful

Musang Berbulu-Ayam Part 1

Musang Berbulu Ayam Part 2

Musang Berbulu Ayam Part 3

Hujah

We also aware of certain profilic individuals such as Musa Hassan and Gani Patail and their ‘involvements’ in the conviction of AI. Musa Hassan was the investigating officer at that time (Probably if you followed the case closely you will remember he’s guy carrying the ‘semen-ted’ mattress to the court) and Gani Patail was the case prosecutor. Could be a vendetta? After they failed to convict AI?

Done with actors’ biodatas. Let’s look at the situation of background of the story.

After 8 Mac political tsunami, weakness of the BN-led government under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is getting more obvious. The government is getting lesser support as time goes by especially after few unpopular decisions made by him such as raising the fuel price, sidelining East Malaysian leaders from his cabinet and exerting pressures against and pulling out people’s projects from Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states. He is making a lot of enemies from inside and outside AMNO. (too long to list out). He will be dethroned anytime soon and his party (read BN) may lose power of the country. He is in a situation what we call ‘deep shit’.

Abdullah is not the only person to feel the heat. His second man, Najib and the infamous Rosmah Mansor – Najib’s wife also feeling the heat especially after RPK made a Statutory Declaration implicating Rosmah in Altantuya’s murder case. The case becomes too hot to handle, even Najib and his wife were forced to respond to the media.

Anwar – deemed the new hope of Malaysia. Widely acknowledged as ‘Prime Minister in waiting’. He is seen to the the only person capable to steer Malaysia and ‘save’ Malaysia from catastrophic doomsday. He is gaining more supports from the ground after the encouraging result for the opposition (especially his party – PKR) in the March 2008 General Election. Despite receiving more supports, he is also bombarded with all sort of allegations in the MSM without any access given to him to defend or reply to the allegations.

Latest allegation? He sodomised Saiful Bahari.

My take? These are few questions and comments to ponder about:

1. Abdullah is trying to kill many birds with one stone. RPK, Najib, and Anwar Ibrahim. Who would think he will do this? But then again, who would think he would remarry again (after he denied it previously), dissolve the parliament (after saying the exact opposite the previous day?) and increased the fuel price as much as 40% to RM2.70 (after he was saying otherwise the previous day?) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is capable of many things.

2. I think it is a pathetic show and desperate attempt by the corrupted government to save its ass and after a decade, is this still relevant?

3. This is may be an attempt to sidetrack us from major issues – C4 , Altantuya and the Statutory Declaration by RPK. They are trying to badawise us! We are stupid but we are not badawi! Note: Saiful Bukhari was close to Najib before. This explosive news probably is to divert the attention from Najib and other dead horses to AI.

4. So how does that 35 year-old (now 45 years old) virgin fit into all this? Remember Ummi Hafilda? 🙂 Out of nowhere she came into the picture? Is she going to make her appearance again?

5. Are we going to see the parade of mattresses again? Hey they probably dust the old mattress and use it as evident in court again. Bring in on!

6. Probably we should ask Ezam Mat Noor? He was a close aide to Anwar and now he is busy attacking AI. Probably he was sodomised before as well? Huh, after 10 years of the Anwar’s sodomy case, nobody come out and say ‘I was sodomise and this is the farking proof’. What we had was some individuals went to lodge police reports against AI. Why straightly go to the police? Go to TV3, show medical reports, photos to the world if it is true. Why police first? The pattern is there. Same old pattern. Boring. Dumb.

7. What a lame reproduction.

Why not come up with a new plot? While they are at it, why not accuse AI of Altantuya’s murder? Create some stories like actually AI was having affair with Altantuya, then also sodomised some boys and Altantuya found up, she went berserked and AI killed him?? Be creative lah! Old trick cannot be used many times!!!!!!!!

Anwar Ibrahim’s press statement : Read here.

Interesting video to watch. Did Anwar Ibrahim perform sodomy? Here is one good post:

Did Anwar Perform Sodomy? Some Video Confessions. (Check out the videos) This is another video on Anwar’s corruption and sodomy charges, check out how wonderful our ex-Prime Minister using his selective memory to ‘skirt around’ the questions asked by the interviewer.

ps: I used/translated some of the points mentioned in this post by BumiLangit. I hope he doesn’t mind. A good post must be shared. A lazy blogger like me, just copy-lah! 😀 NH posted an entry on this as well.

pss: Some of points are just my flaccid mind’s imaginations at work. Please take it with many pinchs of salt.

psss: All this events eerily similar in comparison with a certain African politician – Moo-gah-beh doings.. to stay in power at all cost, at whatever it takes.

Updates:

Malaysiakini: PKR fears Anwar an assasination target – He has sought protection at the Turkish embassy in Kuala Lumpur indefinitely

The Star Online: Anwar receives death threats, in hiding

The Malaysian Insider: PKR claims anwars life under threat

Now you know why you have to pay more for electric tariff starting next month

(click for bigger image)

KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd yesterday defended the proposed salary hike for top officials in government-linked companies (GLCs).

Managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said salaries paid to top executives of GLCs had to be fair and in line with what such talent was worth not only in Malaysia but also overseas.

His comments, as reported by Bernama, were in response to comments in blogs that Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) CEO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh and CFO Datuk Izzadin Idris were getting a huge (an unconfirmed 100%) salary increase.

The timing of the proposed salary increment has jolted many Malaysians now experiencing a strain in their monthly incomes after steep rises in fuel, energy and escalating food prices.

Quoting Khazanah’s Blue Book, which details executive compensation and institutionalises salaries, Azman said: “We cannot pay too low, we shouldn’t pay too high but we have to pay enough, and we have to pay fairly”.

Based on the company’s latest annual report, Che Khalib’s total remuneration last year was RM1.1mil, of which RM600,000 was his annual salary.

It is understood that although the total remuneration would have increased over the past few years, the basic salary component of his current contract remains unchanged.

While the current annual package may seem substantial, it might, however, not make him the highest paid person in TNB.

Azman said after much debate four to five years ago, Khazanah had decided on the average principle for basic salaries.

But at the same time, it had also put up a total compensation basis for the salaries, including bonus, as long as it was self-funding, he said.

“The average Malaysian company pays three months’ bonus. What we are saying is that we will pay more, as long as the company and shareholders make much more than that.

“That means value must be created,” he told reporters after attending the opening ceremony of the MIT Sloan Global Entrepreneurship Lab Programme workshop facilitated by Khazanah.

“That is a very important point. It is performance-based, incentive-driven and self-funding. We are not taking money away from anybody but creating more value,” he added.

In fact, Azman said the higher pay was commensurate with the increasing demand for local talent abroad.

“Malaysian talent is in demand from the Middle East, China, Asean and also the US. There is a very serious brain drain issue that we should be aware of. So don’t begrudge our CEOs and the managements.

“If you see them making money, you should celebrate because they have created a lot of value for the companies. Let me assure you that there has been careful calculation on this,” he added.

(Source: The Star Online)

My take:

1. The main issue is not the announcement, but rather the rate of the pay hike and the timing of the decision.

2. Brain drain issue is around for donkey years. Raising the salary is not the solution. Think again. Why we lost so many smart, talented students to Singapore?

3. I heard not long ago, TNB is making loss??

ps: I am so happy for them. It is not a sin to be rich, really. So you poor folks, stop bitching!

Tired of talking the same shits over and over again.

Like a broken record.

Disheartened.

This is lady’s fingers. (bhindi or sayur bendi)

One of my favourite food

I first made this when I was 10. Standard 4. Mom was working. I came back early from somewhere. Playing marbles or shooting game with friends, I can’t remember. Shooting game was fun. You have this wooden ‘rifle’, with rubber bands, nails and cloth peg tied on it to create some kind of shooting mechanism. The ‘rifle’ normally is just a piece of wood plank, chopped into a ‘rifle’ shape or something comfortable depending on your creativity. My first ‘rifle’ was ugly.. I remember because the kids at the neighbourhood were laughing at me.

Prototype of my ‘rifle’

We use young cherry (actually I don’t know what is the name of the plant.. we called it buah ceri.. at that time.. but.. buah ceri is different.. ah nevermind, tak penting) as bullets. Other plants where we used as bullets are ‘pokok jelai’ and ‘batang bemban’. Sorry I have no idea how to translate that  Quite painful if you are shot with one of this haha!

Eh sorry, I was supposed to talk about lady’s fingers.. 😀

Back to the story.. I used to help my mom to prepare the dish. Eldest in the family..  ‘forced to’ haha! At 10, I was just helping with cleaning the vegetables, take out the frozen meats from the freezer and put it in water to defrost it. Chop some onions, garlics. That’s it. My mom would come chop the vegetables, meats and cook for dinner when she came home.

But that day, I was trying to impress my mom My mom told me to wash the lady’s fingers and cook the rice. Cooking rice is easy.. so I learned how to do at very early age and very fast 😀 Simple tip is the water should come up the side of the pan as far again as the rice does. Use your finger to measure 😛 So, after I cooked my rice, I decided to help my mom to chop the lady’s fingers as well. After chopping it, I soaked it in water just like what I normally did with other vegetables.

That was what I did wrong… Lady’s finger has this edible seeds that will release a sticky, viscous liquid when chopped and cooked. Some people stay away from eating it for this reason. Some people eat it for that reason as well. So I dumped it in the water after chopped it, and the sticky liquid mixed with the water making the lady’s finger gooey and very slimy… Looks very yucky. We normally cook it without adding much water because we do not like it ‘gooey’ and sticky.. Hence the reason many people do not eat this dish because they think of it as slimy and not appealing.

My mom came back and saw the slimy looking lady’s finger and scolded me.. “Hah, geh kiang la!” (Pretend smart lah!) “Now who want to eat this?” I told my mom I would eat it.. No.. I didn’t finish it.. because it tastes so yucky.. I have learned my lesson after that.. how to cook lady’s fingers.. and to take good care of lady’s fingers…

What a slimy experience!

Lil Wayne ft. Static Major – Lollipop

This song is kinda stupid.. but nevermind, it’s Friday. Let’s get retarded!!!!!!!!!!!

I am actually very pissed with the government after reading news on the ‘revised’ Ninth Malaysia Plan after the mid-term review. It is obvious the Federal Government is treating opposition-led states as ‘alien states’. Of all projects, the government decided to defer the monorail and Penang Outer Ring Road projects in Penang. Then to allocate extra RM30b for development. Oh suddenly we have extra cash again? Puzzling..

Extra RM30b for development

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has proposed an increase to the development allocation ceiling from RM200bil to RM230bil for the mid-term period of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) due to rising costs.

“I would like to emphasise that the Federal Government will continue to implement the 9MP (2006-2010) development projects in all states,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, when tabling the motion on the mid-term review of the plan.

Something must be announced to the public that reduction in fuel price subsidy is necessary to enable more allocations in the people-oriented projects. But then they had to take away the Penang Monorail and PORR projects which were noted by DAP as punishing the people of Penang for voting the opposition. Coincidentally, these two projects are what has been hailed as the solution to Penang’s transportation system in improving the lifes of Penangites. If this is not a punishment, what is?

I am still waiting for the RM4.4 billion saving from the fuel ‘subsidy’ to be used to upgrade the public transportation. We were told two and a half years ago that the ’subsidy’ savings of RM 4.4 billion would be utilised for public transportation. Where is it?

PM: We have to sacrifice
(The Star), 1 March 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: The estimated annual saving of RM4.4bil in fuel subsidy will be spent to improve the public transport system, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

He said it was not the Government’s intention to burden the people when it increased the price of fuel.

“The money that we save from the subsidy will be returned to the rakyat in the form of a better public transport system,” he told a press conference after a briefing at Bank Negara here yesterday.

“The cost to improve the system is high, and now we have the money to improve it.”

The prime minister said it was a small sacrifice by the rakyat for a better facility.

The price of petrol and diesel went up by 30 sen a litre yesterday. The Prime Minister reiterated that this would be the only fuel price rise for the year.

“There will be no more increase until December. For 2007, I will not speculate,” he said.

What is the most pressing thing since the fuel price hike? Public transportation services and network. So why the government decided to drop the monorail and PORR projects? Isn’t this is going against what the government promised before this? RM4.4 billion is more than enough to construct new stations of the Putra and Star LRT in Klang Valley, to increase Komuter train services, provide more bike lanes for motorcyclist. Do you see any of this materialised yet? We are still waiting…

Tan Seng Giaw (DAP – Kepong) said the Government should carry on with projects such as the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) in its move to improve the public transportation system.

“I don’t understand why the PORR project has been delayed when the Government keeps emphasising that it wants to upgrade the public transportation system whereby RM30bil has already been allocated for that purpose,” he said.

Strange government. Make a bit noise, we will raise your commission. Tax us and feed the rich petrol station owners. This just tell us that there was no proper planning in what ever decisions they made.

Fuel commission for station operators raised

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26

The commission for fuel station operators for petrol and diesel sales has been increased to 12.19 sen and 7 sen per litre from 9.5 sen and 4.5 sen per litre respectively from yesterday.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad, in a statement yesterday, said the decision was made as part of government efforts to assist fuel station operators who were facing the negative effects of the subsidy restructuring for petrol and diesel since June 5.

The populist approach in Malaysia is to give out candy. Malaysia manages its economy in the political way – talking and making slogans about things, dishing out money so all are relieved.

I am tired. Jump the next post. Please.

Malaysians are suffering not from the increase of oil price, but from the corruption, mismanagement and wastage by the government. We are paying a very high price for this, partly due to our ‘tidak apa’ attitude and indifference to the issues happening around us. For most Malaysians, ignorance is a bliss. They always have their ‘priorities’ and only when reality bites, they start to make noise.

Ever wonder why this country which is full or resources, geographically strategic, blessed with good weather, nice, smart, talented people and stability would end up like this? We have everything – petroleum, palm oil, rubber, timber, land, water, you name it…  but yet we are poor ??

Looking at the list below, it looks like the BN government is more determined to help themselves rather than the citizens.

And this list below is hardly exhaustive as these are the ones uncovered so far – the tip of the ice-berg, if you will! What lies beneath could be much larger :-

1. The Bank Bumiputra twin scandals in the early 1980s saw US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion in 2008 ringgit) wasted;

2. The Maminco attempt to corner the world tin market in the 1980s is believed to have cost some US$500 million (RM1.6 billion);

3. Betting in foreign exchange futures cost Bank Negara Malaysia RM30 billion in the 1990s;

4. Perwaja Steel resulted in losses of US$800 million (RM2.56 billion). (Eric Chia was charged with corruption for allegedly steering US$20 million (RM64 million) to a Hong Kong-based company.);

5. Use of RM10 billion public funds in the Valuecap Sdn. Bhd. operation to shore up the stock market;

6. Banking scandal of RM700 million losses in Bank Islam;

7. The sale of M.V. Agusta by Proton for one Euro making a loss of €75.99 million (RM 348 million);

8. Wang Ehsan from oil royalty in Terengganu amounting to RM7.4 billion from 2004 – 2007;

9. For the past 10 years since the Philharmonic Orchestra was established, this orchestra has swallowed a total of RM500 million;

10. In Advisors Fees, Mahathir was paid RM180,000; Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (Women and Social Development Affairs) RM404,726; and Abdul Hamid Othman (Religious Affairs) RM549,675 per annum;

11. The government has spent a total of RM3.2 billion in teaching Maths and Science in English over the past five years. Out of the amount, the government paid a whopping RM2.21 billion for the purchase of information and computer technology (ICT) equipment of which the breakdown of costs is unknown;

12. The commission paid for the purchase of jets and submarines to two private companies, Perimeker Sdn Bhd and IMT Defence Sdn Bhd amounted to RM910 million;

13. RM300 million to compensate Gerbang Perdana for the RM1.1 billion “Crooked Scenic Half-Bridge”;

14. RM1.3 billion has been wasted building the white elephant Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities on cancellation of the Malaysia-Singapore scenic bridge;

15. RM100 million spent on the Parliament building for renovations and to patch up leaks;

16. National Astronaut Programme – RM 40 million;

17. National Service Training Programme – yearly an estimate of RM 500 million;

18. Eye on Malaysia – RM30 million and another RM5.7 million of free tickets;

19. RM4.63 billion ’soft-loan’ to PKFZ;

20. RM2.4 million on indelible ink;

21. Samy announced in September 2006 that the government paid compensation amounting to RM38.5 billion to 20 highway companies. A RM380 million windfall for 9 toll concessionaires earned solely from the toll hikes in 2008 alone;

22. RM32 million timber export kickbacks involving companies connected to the Sarawak Chief Minister and his family;

Bailouts –
23. Two bailouts of Malaysia Airline System at RM7.9 billion. At a time when MAS incurred losses every year, RM1.55 million was used to buy three paintings to decorate its chairman’s (Munir) office;

24. Putra transport system bailout which cost RM4.486 billion;

25. STAR – LRT bailout costing RM3.256 billion;

26. National Sewerage System bailout costing RM192.54 million;

27. Seremban – Port Dickson Highway bailout costing RM142 million;

28. Kuching Prison bailout costing RM135 million;

29. Kajian Makanan dan Gunaan Orang Islam bailout costing RM8.3 million;

30. Le Tour de Langkawi bailout costing RM3.5 Million ;

31. Wholesale distribution of tens of millions of shares in Bursa Malaysia under the guise of NEP to cronies, children and relatives of BN leaders and Ministers worth billions of ringgits;

32. APs scandal that has been going on year-after-year going back for more than three decades, involving a mind-boggling sum of tens of billions of ringgit;

33. Alienation of tens of thousands of hectares of commercial land and forestry concessions to children and relatives of BN leaders and Ministers worth tens of billions of ringgit;

34. Travel around Malaysia and see for yourself how many white elephants like majestic arches, roads paved with fanciful bricks, designer lamp posts, clock towers, Municipal Council buildings that look more like Istanas, extravagant places of worship, refurbishment of residences of VIPs, abandoned or under-utilized government sports complexes and buildings, etc! Combined they could easily amount to hundreds of billions of ringgit!

35. Since 1997, Petronas has handed out a staggering RM30 billion in natural gas subsidies to IPPs who were making huge profits. In addition, there was much wastage and forward trading of Petronas oil in the 1990s based on the low price of oil then. Since the accounts of Petronas are for the eyes of the Prime Minister only, we have absolutely no idea what the amount is.

Whatever amount it is, you can bet it is COLLOSSAL! In the Time Asia magazine issue on March 15 2004, a South East Asian economist at Morgan Stanley in Singapore, Daniel Lian, figures “that the country may have lost as much as U$$100 billion (RM320 billion) since the early 1980s to corruption.” Mind you, this is only corruption and it does not include wastages and mismanagement which would increase the amount!

If the above list (which could have been money saved) is added to the nation’s coffers and together with Petronas’ profits; palm oil profits; and profits from rubber, tin, agriculture produce, aquaculture produce, electronic and hardware exports etc, for the past 5 decades, we can all agree on one thing – our country would be wealthier than Venezuela who has little resources except for oil. The petrol in Venezuela is RM0.16 per litre!

(Source: http://www.malaysiawaves.com/2008/06/summary-of-bns-wastages-that-rakyat.html)

So farked up

I love it when the government start talking in numbers. This is because, Maths never lie. Take a look at  the figures quoted below in bold.

Yes, we export crude petroleum, says the president and chief executive officer of Petronas, Tan Sri Hassan Marican. In 2007, Malaysia extracted about 600,000 barrels per day, of which 339,000 barrels per day were refined here. The remainder was exported unprocessed, making us a net exporter of crude.

On the other hand, notes Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Shahrir Samad, Malaysia is a net importer of refined petrol.

We produced 110,000 barrels of refined petrol per day last year but the demand was 190,000 barrels per day.

The balance had to be imported – 29 million barrels for the whole year.

At RM43 billion last year, Shahrir notes, fuel subsidies consumed about a quarter of the RM164 billion operating and development expenditure.

(Source: NST)

Let us do some number crunching.

1 barrel = 159 litres (Read here)

190,000 barrels per day = 30,210,000 litres per day

1 year = 30,210,000 x 365 = 11,026,650,000 litres

Subsidy in 2007 (last year) = RM0.19 per litre, (quoted from table)

So total subsidy = 11,026,650,000 x RM0.19 = RM2,095,063,500

= RM2 billion??

Hmm.. probably petrol subsidy and diesel subsidy should be added together.

Subsidy in 2007 RM0.19 + RM0.43 = 0.62 per litre,

So total subsidy = 11,026,650,000 x RM0.62 = RM6,836,523,000

= RM6 billion??

Using the numbers given by Shahrir Samad, I can’t get RM43 billion fuel subsidies from all the calculation I did!! WHY? I probably sucks at Maths. Can you help me here? How to get at RM43 billion? Find, get me RM35B. Oh,  I think RM30B is enough. Please? I need to go to sleep now..

ps: I actually made a mistake of using 190,000 barrels per day demand to calculate the subsidy, when I probably should use the 29 millions barrels per year that need to be imported for calculation. Well, why the government need to subsidise what we can produce locally right? Then the subsidy for fuel is just 29 millions x 159 litres x RM0.62 = RM2 billion. This is not making any F sense!

pss: I will be glad if somebody points out I made a mistake in my calculation. Please. Then we will know where the rest of the billions went to..

pss: You probably want to read The Truth About Fuel Subsidy and What Is Never Mentioned In  Mainstream Media as well.

Why global oil price increase so much as it is today? There are too many explanations, just choose which one suits you best. Kickdefella just written another post – Market Full Of Oil: The USD VS Crude Oil Experience where he quoted Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

“The oil market is plentifully supplied and the rally to record high prices is ‘fake and imposed’ “

“At a time when the growth of consumption is lower than the growth of production and the market is full of oil, prices are rising and this trend is completely fake and imposed”

“As you know the decrease in the dollar’s value and the increase in energy prices are two sides of the same coin which are being introduced as factors behind the recent instability,”

Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, has repeatedly said the market is well-supplied with crude and blames rising prices on speculation, a weak dollar and geopolitical factors.

You should read more of the article here

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This is another very interesting article to read. According to the writer, we should aim our fire at OPEC (Malaysia is part of this..), commodity speculators and the biggest culprit is Bush Administration. More of less what President Ahmadinejad has said.

Anatomy of a Price Surge

by Michael T. Klare

As the pain induced by higher oil prices spreads to an ever growing share of the American (and world) population, pundits and politicians have been quick to blame assorted villains–greedy oil companies, heartless commodity speculators and OPEC. It’s true that each of these parties has contributed to and benefited from the steep run-up. But the sharp growth in petroleum costs is due far more to a combination of soaring international demand and slackening supply–compounded by the ruinous policies of the Bush Administration–than to the behavior of those other actors.

Most, if not all, the damage was avoidable. Shortly after taking office, George W. Bush undertook a sweeping review of US energy policy aimed at expanding the nation’s supply of vital fuels. The “reality is the nation has got a real problem when it comes to energy,” he declared on March 14, 2001. “We need more sources of energy.” At that time many of the problems evident today were already visible. Energy demand in mature industrial nations was continuing to grow as the rising economic dynamos of Asia, especially China, were beginning to make an impact. By 2002 the Energy Department was predicting that China would soon overtake Japan, becoming the world’s second-largest petroleum consumer, and that developing Asia as a whole would account for about one-fourth of global consumption by 2020. Also evident was an unmistakable slowdown in the growth of world production, the telltale sign of an imminent “peaking” in global output [see Klare, “Beyond the Age of Petroleum,” November 12, 2007].

With these trends in mind, many energy experts urged the White House to minimize future reliance on oil, emphasize conservation and rapidly develop climate-friendly alternatives, especially renewables like wind, solar, geothermal and biofuels. But Dick Cheney, who was overseeing the energy review, would have none of this. “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue,” the Vice President famously declared in April 2001, “but it is not a sufficient basis…for sound, comprehensive energy policy.” After three months of huddling in secret with top executives of leading US energy companies, he released a plan on May 17 that, in effect, called for preserving the existing energy system, with its heavy reliance on oil, coal and natural gas.

Because continued reliance on oil would mean increased reliance on imported petroleum, especially from the Middle East, Bush sought to deflect public concern by calling for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other protected areas. As a result, most public discourse on the Bush/Cheney plan focused on drilling in ANWR, and no attention was paid to the implications of increased dependence on imported oil–even though oil from ANWR, in the most optimistic scenario, would reduce US need for imports (now about 60 percent) by just 4 percent.

But this produced another dilemma for Bush: increased reliance on imports meant increased vulnerability to disruptions in delivery due to wars and political upheavals. To address this danger, the Administration began planning for stepped-up military involvement in major overseas oil zones, especially the Persian Gulf. This was evident, for example, when then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gave early priority to enhancement of American “power projection” to areas of instability in the developing world. Then came 9/11 and the “war on terror”–giving the White House a perfect opportunity to accelerate the military expansion and to pursue other key objectives. High on the list was the elimination of Saddam Hussein, long considered the most potent challenger to US domination of the Gulf and its critical energy supplies.

But the invasion of Iraq–intended to ensure US control of the Gulf and a stable environment for the expanded production and export of its oil–has had exactly the opposite effect. Despite the many billions spent on oil infrastructure protection and the thousands of lives lost, production in Iraq is no higher today than it was before the invasion. Iraq has also become a rigorous training ground for extremists throughout the region, some of whom have now migrated to the oil kingdoms of the lower Gulf and begun attacking the facilities there–generating some of the recent spikes in prices.

Then there is the dilemma posed by Iran. With Saddam out of the picture, the Islamic regime in Tehran is viewed in Washington as the greatest threat to US mastery of the Gulf. This threat rests largely on Iran’s ability to attack oil shipping in the Gulf and ignite unrest among militant Shiite groups throughout the region, but its apparent pursuit of nuclear weapons has inflated the perceived menace significantly. To restrain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Washington has imposed economic sanctions on Iran and forced key US allies to abandon plans for developing new oilfields there. As a result Iran, with the world’s second-largest reserves after Saudi Arabia, is producing only about half the oil it could–another reason for the global constriction of supply.

But the Administration’s greatest contribution to the rising oil prices is its steady stream of threats to attack Iran if it does not back down on the nuclear issue. The Iranians have made it plain that they would retaliate by attempting to block the flow of Gulf oil and otherwise cause turmoil in the energy market. Most analysts assume, therefore, that an encounter will produce a global oil shortage and prices well over $200 per barrel. It is not surprising, then, that every threat by Bush/Cheney (or their counterparts in Israel) has triggered a sharp rise in prices. This is where speculators enter the picture. Believing that a US-Iranian clash is at least 50 percent likely, some investors are buying futures in oil at $140, $150 or more per barrel, thinking they’ll make a killing if there’s an attack and prices zoom over $200.

It follows, then, that while the hike in prices is due largely to ever increasing demand chasing insufficiently expanding supply, the Bush Administration’s energy policies have greatly intensified the problem. By seeking to preserve our oil-based energy system at any cost, and by adding to the “fear factor” in international speculation through its bungled invasion of Iraq and bellicose statements on Iran, it has made a bad problem much worse.

What can be done to reverse this predicament? There is no realistic hope of substantially increasing the supply of oil–drilling in offshore US waters, as favored by President Bush and Senator John McCain, will not reverse the long-term decline in US production–so it is only by reducing demand that fundamental market forces can be addressed. This is best done through a comprehensive program of energy conservation, expanding public transit and accelerating development of energy alternatives. It will take time for some of these efforts to have an impact on prices; others, like reducing speed limits and adding bus routes, would have a more rapid effect. And if this Administration truly wanted to spare Americans further pain at the pump, there is one thing it could do that would have an immediate effect: declare that military force is not an acceptable option in the struggle with Iran. Such a declaration would take the wind out of the sails of speculators and set the course for a drop in prices

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Conclusion: Vote Obama as president. I find myself agreeing more with Hillary Clinton during the presidential nomination race, but too bad she lose. Mc Cain? He is a yoyo master, no difference from our homegrown famous flip-flop master. Mc Cain also is already geared towards war in Iran, which is bad. Make love, not war.