Mahathir's Crude Calculation Of Crude Oil

Filling up, a painful
experience

Hantu Laut

Subsidising the costs of petrol and diesel are no more feasible due to the high costs of crude oil. Continuing doing so would eventually take the nation to the road of insolvency.The price hike announced by the Prime Minister recently would also put a brake on smuggling that have rendered the nation massive economic losses.

Are we to believe all those hardball politics ? Many don't and it makes life difficult for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

People like Anwar Ibrahim, estranged former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad and Pakatan Rakyat have vested interests to demonise Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.They should not be looked upon as guardian angels.They are the demolition squads.

Anwar wanted Pakatan Rakyat to take over the government and he takes the post of prime minister.Mahathir has an axe to grind with Abdullah for the shelving of his vision of grandeur.Mukhriz Mahathir has lost his sense of balance and had become a chip of the old bloke.

Put any of them to run the government under the present situation you would see the same scenario.Their incessant barkings are now becoming a source of annoyance and an insult to the intelligentsia.

It is amusing to note that an article on comments made by Mahathir in his blog on the recent price hike of petrol and diesel appeared in Malaysiakini penned by one Syed Jaymal Zahiid. Malaysiakini appended a table on the price of petrol in other oil producing countries without doing an analysis and rendering of the different economic and social structures of those countries in comparison with Malaysia. The table from the said article is reproduced below:

Looking at the prices in the table any laymen would
immediately conclude that the Malaysian
government was wrong and could well afford to
give the people cheaper price for petrol and diesel because we are oil producing nation.The purpose of the table is to mislead those who has no grasp of economics.

The writer and Malaysiakini should have shown some semblance of responsibility to explain the purpose of the table.

Malaysia is not in the same league as those OPEC countries mentioned in the table. Crude oil is not the staple food(product) of Malaysia. Our domestic consumption of oil is almost 78% of our production capacity.We are a minuscule net exporter of crude oil.

Let's take Venezuela, which has the same population as Malaysia.It produces 2.8 million barrels per day and exports 2.2 million bbl per day and consumes only 599,000, bbl per day. Its economy depended solely on export of crude oil.Almost 90% of its export earnings came from export of crude. It has the lowest price for fuel oil among OPEC members, an unimaginable amount of RM0.16 per litre.

President Hugo Chavez is doing what Mahathir has been doing for the 22 years he was in power.Instead of making strong effort to raise to optimum level the income and living standards of the people, he pampered them with all kind of subsidies just to keep himself in power. The Malaysians' mindsets are now finely-tuned to the subsidy mentality.

Let us now take the other end of the spectrum, UAE (United Arab Emirates) with a small population of 4.6 millions.It produces 2.54 bbl/day and exports almost all of its premium crude.It imports around 137,000 bbl/day for part of its domestic consumptions. Although it could offer its people the cheapest price for petrol or even give it away free, it didn't.Its domestic price for petrol is MR1.19 per litre which is about the same price during Mahathir's time.

UAE is a forward looking nation and has diversified its economy to be not solely dependent on its crude oil export.Unlike Chavez of Venezuela, the rulers of UAE are fully secured in their seats and have successfully modernised and elevated the income level and living standards of the people.

Prime Minister wannabe Anwar Ibrahim said the price hike “wanton in size and callous in effect” and described the steepness in the price increase as unconscionable.

Anwar together with his former boss played equally damaging role to propagate a carrot and stick administration during his time in UMNO.He did nothing to stop the abuses when he was in the comfort zone.If you opposed the government you are seen as a security threat and are likely to be charged under the ISA. If you are a strong party supporter or a clever sycophant you would be rewarded with lucrative government contracts or given well-established public listed company on the platter that can make you an instant millionaire.

More shameful is Mahathir veiled attempt to mislead the people by saying that the government has the money to keep the fuel subsidy. He is either bad in mathematics or intentionally misrepresented Petronas profits.

For an ex prime minister who had 22 years experience in running the nation he should know the nitty-gritty of economics and interpretation of financial statements.As an adviser to Petronas such blatant disregard for facts and figures is inexcusable.

Writing in his blog he said“Roughly Malaysia produces 650,000 barrels of crude per day. We consume 400,000 barrels leaving 250,000 barrels to be exported. Our 250,000 barrels of export should earn us RM27 billion.

“But Petronas made a profit of well over RM70 billion, all of which belong to the government. I feel sure that maintaining the subsidy and gradually decreasing it would not hurt government finances,”

"Three years ago the selling price of crude was about USD30 per barrel. Today it is USD130 – an increase of USD100. There is hardly any increase in the production cost so that the extra USD100 can be considered as pure profit.

Our 250,000 barrels of export should earn us 250,000 x 100 x 365 x 3 = RM27,375,000,000 (twenty seven billion Ringgit).

But Petronas made a profit of well over RM70 billion, all of which belong to the Government.

By all accounts the Government is flushed with money"

Mahathir's above calculation is grossly misleading and most unexpected coming from someone like him, who is adviser to Petronas and one who knew the inner workings of government.The RM27 billion he calculated is gross sale not profit.

Below are details of the world prices of crude and the spot price of Malaysian Tapis for the period shown there in.Prices are not average but year end price.The annual average price would be much lower.

Year World Price US$ Malaysian Tapis US$ (in red)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dec 2003 28.13 32.03
Dec 2004 33.05 38.41
Dec 2005 51.73 61.97
Dec 2006 55.95 65.57
Dec 2007 89.76 98.44
-----------------------
Jan 2008 85.53 93.69
Feb 2008 95.15 104.21
Mar 2008 99.32 107.88
Apr 2008 111.03 120.88
May 2008 126.06 138.43
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The price reached US130. bbl only in May 2008.

Assuming we take the year end price between 2003 and 2007, the price for the period would be an untrue average of US$59.28 per barrel for Malaysian Tapis Spot.Let us assume the true average was US$50.00.

Assuming Petronas produced a daily average production of 600,000 bbl/day for the period, the annual gross sale of crude would be US$50 x 365 x 600,000. = US$10.5 billion before deducting operational costs, royalty to states and taxes.

Let us work out how much Petronas make between the period Mahathir left office and Abdullah took over the helm to the end of 2007.

Annual sale of crude US$10.5

Less:5% royalty to states .525
-----------
9.975

Assuming all other costs were
50% of net sales 4.987
------------
Net Profit to Petronas 4.987 x 3.20 = RM15.96

Petronas annual profit attributed to export of crude oil between 2003 to 2007 was only RM15.96 billion not RM27 billion as made out by Mahathir.Petronas also generates profits from it other operations especially its LNG and refined petroleum operations.Its other profit centres are from its overseas operations in other countries. In 2005 its revenue was US$44.3 billions and made a net profit of US$11.6 billions.

Petronas current crude production is in the region of 700,000 to 730,000 barrels per day.With the current high price of crude it probably can make RM60-70 billions from all its operations.

Malaysia's domestic consumption is in the region of 550,000 barrels a day and about 300,000 barrels of crude are imported to supplement the domestic needs .It is obvious from the amount of domestic consumption which is almost 78 % of the total crude production it would be unwise to fleece Petronas to continue with the subsidy. It would be likened to " kill the goose that lays the golden egg" if the government were irresponsible and continue the subsidy just to be popular with the people.

During Mahathir's time when the price of crude was much cheaper, averaging less than US$20. per barrel , Petronas profits had been even smaller. He kept Petronas accounts a closely guarded secret.

Why did Mahathir keeps the accounts of Petronas a secret? It is obvious he didn't want Malaysians to know how the money was spent and what are the reserves left after the many bail outs of failed projects and insolvent financial institutions and financing of his grandiose projects. Petronas is also wasting money on prestigious and non-revenue generating projects such as the Petronas Philharmonic Orchestra and bankrolling the F1 races. Now he claims the government is flushed with money.

The price of crude reached its peak at the end of May but have eased slightly since then.Will the price breached the US$200 mark this year?

Much depend on how the recession set in the United States and whether there would be decline in industrial outputs there, in China, India and other industrialised countries.A deep recession in the US could trigger off a chain reaction to other countries that have huge trades with it.A prolonged global recession would certainly bring down the price of crude and other commodities due to less demand.

With the recent price hike would Abdullah be in serious trouble of losing his job?

Much depend on the loyalty of the 150 BN members of parliament.If they stay with Abdullah his position would be unshakable. No reason for them no to, as by now, they would have realised the false claims by Anwar of the 30 MPs joining Pakatan Rakyat.Many dates given by Anwar and his cohort Jefferey Kitingan had passed without any sign of those frogs making an appearance.

Anwar appears unsure whether he should stand in a by-election against the might of the BN machinery and take the risk of being trashed.He kept saying he is not in a hurry.It's now obvious why he wanted to take over the government through the backdoor. To be on the safe side he would only stand in a by election after formation of the government under the Pakatan coalition.

The chance of a back door take-over seems to be fading away as time goes by.

If he stood in a by-election and lost that would be the end of him, his Pakatan Rakyat and his dream of becoming prime minister.

Abdullah needs massive image reconstruction if he wants to stay in power.His popularity rating has slid further down after the price hike.He is in dire need of a cabinet reshuffle and should get rid of those lazy ministers who have done him more harm than good.He should disband his 4th floor academicians.They are probably better suited to give lectures in our local universities than dishing out advices to the Prime Minister. Those kiddies from Oxford and Cambridge have not shown their mantle. If they had, the Prime Minister wouldn't be in such predicament.

The recent price increase has not been given serious thought and no campaign has been carried out to bring awareness to lessen the shock to the general public. The government should have used the mass media to advertise and dish the dirt out to the people on why the nation needs to reduce the subsidy, at least for six months before the date of implementation.It is obvious his cabinet ministers and public relation officers are not doing their jobs.

After asking the people to change their lifestyle and tighten their belts the government, likewise, must now go on an austerity drive starting with the Prime Minister leading the way by example.

Abdullah should cut down his overseas trip to the absolute minimum. Flying a big private jet is a very expensive affair, where possible he and his deputy should reduce the size of their entourage and used smaller jet or take commercial flights.

Ministers and civil servants should also curtail their overseas trips unless absolutely necessary. Many jaunts overseas had been known to be paid holidays under the guise of fact finding tours or working visits.

Ministers and senior civil servants should switch over to using smaller cars to conserve fuel and reduce government spending.

There are many more things that the government could do to send the message to the people that they are equally serious in cutting costs to reduce the burden on the people.

Abdullah taking this unpopular decision should be viewed positively.It means the man is not afraid of losing his job.

With the oppositions not showing any responsibility, inciting the people to take to the streets to demonstrate, will Abdullah reverses his decision again or send the water cannons and teargas ?

He has made his bed, he must now lie in it.

The simple-minded believe changing the government would change things for the better. Some will have the fortitude to accept the hard facts of life and bear the affliction with dignity while some will keep blaming the government for its uncaring attitude as theorised in Stanley Goh's "We need a more caring, innovative government" in Malaysiakini where he sees the government as the devil for all the hardship that some Malaysians may have to incur by the hike in prices of fuel oil.

Malaysians after many years of palliative care by the government now demand cheap fuel as of their rights and not as a privilege.



Than there are some publicity seeking activists who think going to the streets to vend their anger would scare the government and make them submit to their demands.

No government in their right mind would want to make unpopular decision unless they are forced by circumstances to do so.

Abdullah could have, to be popular, let the subsidy continue and hand over a bankrupt government to his successor or to the next government.

A Recipe For All: Bad Move Pak Lah

Hantu Laut

I hope the next time the Prime Minister announces a price hike in petrol and diesel he would do it in the dead of night so those foolish and unreasonable Malaysians would be soundly asleep in their beds and would not become nuisance on the roads just to save a few ringgit causing inconvenience to others who have other more important things to do.

Last night, I had to sent my wife to her brother's house for a pre-wedding dinner she has to attend for the wedding of one of her nieces over the weekend.

We live in the outskirt about 30 km from town which normally takes about 30 minutes by car.

We left the house at about 7 p.m. without realising I have forgotten to top up my tank earlier in the day.I noticed I have less than a quarter tank and would need to top up at the nearest petrol station, which is about 5 km from my house. A kilometer before the station we had to slow down to a crawl, thinking it could be an accident ahead of us, we kind of say 'what to do' must be another one of those grisly Kancil.

We had no choice but to move at snail pace and hope it wouldn't be a long queue.As we near the station it dawned on me that it wasn't an accident but people queueing up to fill their tanks before the new price become effective after midnight.

There were cars,trucks,buses and motorbikes all over the place vying to beat each other to reach the pump first.I decided not to fill up and hope the next station wouldn't be so bad.

At the next station the queue was much longer but was more orderly, choking only the left lane and keeping the right lane of the highway free to moving traffic. I again decided not to fill up and hope for the best at the next one.Before I reached the next station my low fuel warning light had come on.

The next station was absolute mayhem, my six sense told me I have to get away from the place as quickly as possible before my car gave up on me.I turned to a coastal highway I knew didn't have any petrol station that is likely to choke up the highway.

Like godsend, I heard my wife said " Isn't your uncle's house about a kilometer from here, why don't you leave your car at his place and borrow his and return it later and take our car and top up later in the night after all those idiots have gone home".

Well, we did exactly that and by the time we got to her brother's the whole journey which normally took half an hour had taken us almost two hours.

Pak Lah, I am with you in removing the subsidy, but the next time you announce a price hike, please do it when we all are nicely tucked in our beds.

I don't agree with the cash handouts to motorcyclists and small powered car owners.It is too little to make any significant impact on the the lives of those who are in dire need of it to help them overcome the rising costs of living.Not all owners of car 2500 c.c.and below are poor.There are many Malaysians who own multiple cars.

Let assume in my household I own a Proton Wira 1500 c.c under my daughter's name, a Toyota HiLux 2500 c.c under my wife's name and a Porsche and Merc under my name. Do you think my family deserved to claim the handouts, which legally my daughter and my wife should be entitled to.

You be greatly mistaken if you think honesty is a virtue that many Malaysians possessed.

Subsidy should only be given to the poor and low income earner based on their income not on the type of car they drive.The low wage earner, fishermen and farmers are people more in dire need of help than a guy who earned RM4,000. per month and decides to use a Kancil or a car of less than 2500 c.c.

You need less amount of subsidy and would help more of those who deservedly in need of help if a different formula had been used.

Really don't know who are your economic advisers. One day you banned foreign cars from filling up, next day, whosh! no more ban.

What's going on.Are we in la-la land ?

The Mahathirs: Time To Go

Hantu Laut

During his father's time people like him would have been sacked in double quick time from the party without any hesitation or show cause from party leaders.

On top of that he would also be investigated by the ACA for some wrongdoings or corruptions just to seal the lid on the coffin.There are already calls from party members for him to resign or be sacked from the party.

Anwar Ibrahim learned a bitter lesson when he tried to go against the party supremo and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.However, Anwar is not an ordinary human being whose resolve can be easily broken.The few years in prison have made him even stronger and more determine to show the former premier that 'every dog has its day'.

Mukhriz Mahathir knew UMNO wouldn't remove him just yet.He is sitting pretty and continue to hound Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Like his father, his motive is to create more instability in the party and to pressure Abdullah to step down. His ultimate goal is to be sacked from the party and to gain sympathy from party members and ultimately to be seen as a hero.

He would be as disappointed as his father.

There are no love between party members and those out of power or the powerless. UMNO is a party of patronage, tow the line or suffer the consequence of your dissension. Subservience and loyalty are only meant for the oligarchy.

The seemingly weak Abdullah is not taking the bait and wouldn't at this juncture do anything superfluous to weaken the party nor would there be many disgruntled members leaving the party if Mukhriz decides to resign. In the event he is sacked from the party, there wouldn't be any 'reformasi' movement from the masses to show their discontentment and displeasure as seen during the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998.

The tiff between his father and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had become a family feud with concerted familial attacks by the Mahathirs on Abdullah. The whole unpleasant affair has turned into a personal vendetta that has thrown UMNO into slight disarray.

Mukhriz has openly declared that he would be going for the position of youth chief in the coming party elections in December this year.

This uncontroversial son of the former prime minister is not known for riding the high horses and have always steered away from controversy. Caught between the devil and the deep-blue sea, it is obvious, filial piety had probably got the better of him.A decision not all that wrong but could prove fatal to his future political carrier.

The older Mahathir has now come up with a new formula on how to topple Abdullah. He says 35 UMNO lawmakers should leave the party and stay as independents and stay away from AnwarPakatan Rakyat coalition.With their departure Abdullah government would collapse and Abdullah would have no choice but to resign. He said Najib should have the guts and should detach himself from Abdullah and step in as candidate for prime minister.The 35 ex-UMNO MPs should than give their votes to Najib and he would than be the new prime minister.Sounds terribly easy or just a pipe dream?

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Mahathir is running hither and yon, trying everything from the sublime to the ridiculous, to bring about the downfall of Abdullah. His decrepitude idea of a serious political crisis in the country is merely a figment of his imagination stem from the hatred for Abdullah for dismantling many of his money-spinning contracts for his cronies. Two massive projects chopped by Abdullah triggered off his admonition for the Prime Minister that has now backfired on him.

Soon after he took office Abdullah, at the chagrin of Mahathir, shelved the massive US$3.8 billion railway project given to a consortium controlled by Syed Mukhtar Al-Bukhary, a close associate of Mahathir, and the controversial crooked bridge, a retaliation against Singapore's hard-headed stands on many bilateral issues effecting the two countries. The bridge is his idea of giving access to ships plying the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea to by-pass Singapore and use the Strait of Johor to the Port of Tanjong Perlepas in south western Johor and Pasir Gudang Port in south eastern Johor.Both ports are under the control of Al-Bukhary.

Although the growth of his business empire has had some form of help from former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, due respect must be given to Al-Bukhary.Unlike many so-called Malay entrepreneurs who depended totally on political connections to jump start their venture into the business world, Al-Bukhary is a true entrepreneur that came from a humble beginning and worked his way up to what he is today.

The vainglorious Mahathir underestimated his current popularity in the party and throws his last trump card hoping he would this time unseat Abdullah by popular uprising in the party triggered by his resignation.A poor judgement and bad decision.

His resignation was followed by his businessman son Mokhzani who also resigned from the party.He was listed as the 28th richest person in Malaysia by Forbes with an estimated worth of US$220 million in 2007.He is also Chairman of Sepang International Circuit which has an annual budget of RM100 millions annually to host the F1 Grand Prix.A new contract with Bernie Eccelstone for night racing under lights would need another RM40-50 millions expenditure to light up the track.This is one of the so-called successful Malay entrepreneurs.

Another son, Mukhriz was elected as member of parliament in the recent elections and has followed in his father's footsteps and has, on several occasions, called on Abdullah to resign as Prime Minister.In spite of his insubordination he refused to resign from the party.

All the Mahathirs are still holding political appointments which they refused to resign.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad is a veteran politician, a man who used to tell UMNO member to be loyal to their leaders and that party interests come first and he who accused the West of double standards.What kind of standard is he using now?

It is by social convention that in any organisation, politics or otherwise, that if we ceased to support the leader and party principles we should resign and decouple ourselves from the organisation.

Since they have not been able to remove Abdullah from his premiership, it would be a matter of moral principle that:

Former PM Mahathir Mohammad resign from his positions as advisers to Petronas and Proton.

Mokhzani resign as Chairman of Sepang International Circuit, and

Mukhriz resign from UMNO.

Najib: Think Again !

Hantu Laut

The Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the government has postponed its decision to ban sale of fuel to foreign registered cars within 50 miles radius of any border which was supposed to commence on Friday. It ultimately aims to increase the price of fuel throughout the country for foreign cars.

The reason for the postponement was not stated but it is safe to assume that the government are not sure how to go about doing it and the repercussions it may have on other industry with possible negative outflow on tourism.

The idea of having separate pumps for foreign cars would require additional capital expenditure and may lead to abuses by dishonest dealers who still can sell the cheaper fuel at their own price to foreign cars, cheaper than the fixed price for foreign cars but slightly more than the domestic price and pocket the difference in pricing.The Singaporeans and Thais would be happy to collaborate to get the cheaper fuel and make the dealer slightly richer. Do not underestimates Malaysians tendency and capacity for cheating and do not overestimates the effectiveness of our enforcement authorities. Most of the time the crooks got away.

Corruption, smuggling, abuse of power are just some of the examples of cheating in this country, which run into billions of ringgits every year.

A civil servant friend once told me how he is getting sick of politicians making high moral sounding speeches telling civil servants to discharge their duties honestly and not to be corrupted. He said "I get sick in the stomach every time I listen to those bastards telling us not to be corrupted as if we don't know that they are stealing billions from the nation like there is no tomorrow.They are just like fishes, when it starting to rot, it stinks at the head and than the rest of the body follows. They are the heads, we, the civil servants are the bodies, when they stinks, we stinks too". He said if the politicians are honest, uncorruptable and dedicated, majority of civil servants would follow suit.It's called leading by examples but, unfortunately, that has never been the case.

Would it be a wise move to have two-pricing system, one for domestic car and the other for foreign cars and what would be the saving in monetary term or would it have a negative impact on tourism in the country?

The top tourist arrivals by nationality in 2007 are shown below:

Singapore 10,492,692
Indonesia 1,804,535
Thailand 1,625,698
Brunei 1,172,154
China 689,293

(Source:Malaysia Hotel News)

Singaporeans are the biggest contributor to our tourism dollar.

Assuming 80% of Singaporeans,Thais and Bruneians entered the country by roads in cars,coaches and by trains.

There were 10,632,251 visitors in 2007. Assuming only 50% of the figure were true paying tourists,we would still have 5,316,125 visitors, majority of which probably came in their own cars. Let say we put a hypothetical figure of 3 persons to a car, we would have 1,772,041 cars entering the country and assuming they spend an average of RM300.00 on petrol per car, the total bill at current price would be RM532 million per year for foreign cars.Assuming the government increases the pump price for foreign cars by 100%, the total bill would be in the region of RM1.064 billions per year unsubsidised.

The total tourist receipts for 2007 was RM46.1 billions.It is safe to assume that 50-60% of the receipts were contributed mainly by Singaporeans,Thais and the other top arrivals.That's a whopping RM23 billion or more in tourism money, just losing 10% 0f it would mean RM2.3 billion gone, which is much more than the total revised fuel bill.

The net benefits to the government by increasing the price of petrol for foreign cars seemed negligible and not worth the effort.On the other hand it may loses the spin-offs from tourism if there were to be reduction of tourist arrivals due to the higher cost of fuel.

Government should not just look at what it pays directly out of the subsidy but should look at the bigger picture of the spin-offs from the industry.

To control and lessen the selling of subsidised fuel to foreign cars, the government should make it mandatory for all foreign cars entering the country to have minimum 3/4 tank of petrol.Any car that failed to comply with the ruling should be fined on the spot with a fixed amount set by the government.

With the 3/4 tank ruling those trying to buy cheap fuel at border towns would be weeded out and the bona fide tourists wouldn't be punished and the country continue to get its tourism spin-offs.

The Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said that Singaporeans are saying they don't mind paying the market rate.That's probably just lip service. The Singapore government for sure don't want the Singaporeans to come to Malaysia to spend their money here.Don't forget they have 3/4 tank ruling on Singapore cars leaving the island for Malaysia for many years now.

The best solution is to remove the entire subsidy on petrol and diesel and have one price structure.The government should only keep the subsidy on essential items such as cooking gas, rice and other essential foodstuffs for the sake of the poor and those in the low income bracket.

The RM56 billion subsidy spent on petrol and diesel is more than sufficient to improve the public transportation systems in the major cities and towns which will ease the burden of car ownership of those in the lower and middle income group.

Many Malaysians in that income group are living beyond their means, a culture infused during the Mahathir's era of making car ownership easily available to those who hardly can afford it, just to satisfy his industrialisation programme and show the world 'Malaysia Boleh' . Removing the subsidy on petrol and diesel and providing the people with better public transport would help those foolish Malaysians to get rid of the car they can ill afford.

Those in the lower income group spent over 50% of their monthly income to service the repayment,maintenance and repair of their cars with very little left for food, clothing and medical care. Some took to crime to supplement their income.

It is a complete fallacy to think that the poor and those in the lower income group are the one who benefited from the subsidy. If you don't own a car the price of petrol or diesel will have no impact on your daily lives other than the slight increase in the costs of living, the indirect results of the higher fuel cost.

The subsidised fuel are more benefiting to the upper middle class and wealthy Malaysians, those with their posh gas-guzzling monsters and multiple cars owners.

Maybe, now is the time to teach Malaysians how not to live with a subsidy mentality.

Footnote:
(For a small country, population of 380,000, the figure for Brunei seems odd.With that figure every Bruneian visited Malaysia an average of 3 times in 2007.The only plausible explanation, those are Bruneians going to and fro to the other side of Brunei separated by Limbang in Sarawak. They were all not tourists in the real sense, went through Malaysian Immigration in Sarawak, and were included in Malaysia's fallacious and sexed up statistics as tourists). See map below.