The Butcher of Kuala Lumpur

To start a quiet week

I thought I’d take a break from all that negative vibe-thing I’d been feeling all of last week.

So today let’s talk about cute little kittens and children with puppy eyes, pawing at the vending machine hoping to get a free piece of candy or anime toy thing.

In the news today: petrol prices have been reduced (I wanted to use the word “slashed” but it didn’t feel right) by 15 to 20 sen, depending on the product.

It’s interesting to note (okay, not really interesting and probably not so notable) that oil was at a $140 high when the price jumped to RM 2.70. Today’s crude is about half of that historic price at some $75 per barrel. But the petrol stations are still selling a litre to me at RM 2.30.

It doesn’t make an economic logic here but our government (and indeed highly-educated economists) are quick to point out other price-affecting factors. The latest excuse, er, reason for the seemingly disproportionate decrease in price is the prevailing weakness of the US dollar (the currency used to actually buy these barrels of oil). The justification here is that despite the better price of oil today, the US dollar doesn’t give as much value per buck as it used to.

So we end up paying more.

I’m always suspicious of logic and reason when used by the wily hands of the self-serving economist.

Tags: harga minyak Malaysia, harga petrol, harga petrol Malaysia, krisis minyak, Malaysian petrol price, nilai ringgit, oil crisis