Mana Boleh - Where Can??

I read in dismay today that the Malaysian government (read BN government), instead of tackling the issue of fuel subsidy has decided to close part of the fuel market to foreigners.

And how much stupider can they get?

Their ruling is that the gas stations sited within 50 km of the border of Thailand and Singapore will not be allowed to sell gas to foreigners.

Now I am deeply troubled because I am planning to head north to Penang for the holidays, to be with my in-laws. While going up is not the issue, my beef is with the journey back.

When will I need to fill up before I get into the 50 km ruling? And how is it counted? 50 km radius or via the roads? Technically, it seems quite impossible to monitor this and worst of all the only people to suffer from this is the gas stations adjacent to the highway both in JB (Woodlands and Second Link) and also in the north of Kedah, Kelantan, Perak and Perlis.

I recall in the Second Link, direction towards Singapore, there was a Shell gas station that just opened perhaps a year ago. I pity them because they will most likely take a long time to recoup their investment because hardly any Malaysian cars use the Second Link (mostly Singapore based cars).

It would be interesting to see how long this effort will last before they figure out money speaks louder than words.

The best solution to this is to remove the subsidies, or find a way to channel the subsidies back into the pockets of the poor. The middle and upper class can surely "tahan" the raise in fuel prices.

In the mean time, all I can say is..... THIS SUCKS!