Kejap ini.. Kejap itu...Make up your mind!

On a beautiful sunday morning where most people laze in bed and wake up only during noon, i woke up at 7.30am to get ready for a VCT training i had to attend! (VCT stands for voluntary counseling and testing for HIV) 

As usual, i went down to the cafe below my apartment and started off my day in the most normal fashion with a cup of coffee and my daily dose of Malaysian humor via the Sunday times. As I browsed through the first ten pages of the newspaper, i couldn't decide if i wanted to laugh, cry, or rage at what i was reading.

A couple of stories caught my attention.

story 1

The National Fatwa council is deciding on ruling to ban yoga for all muslims because it can deviate them from the teachings of Islam. Wan Mohamed, director jeneral of Jakim says that he is dissapointed with the attitudes of Muslims in the country who are easily influenced by foreign cultures to a point of affecting their faiths. 

Yoga practices may have derived from hinduism, however yoga has many forms. Many of which offered at health clubs are altered yoga to promote healthier living and a form of non strenous exercise which is helpful for preserving the body's agility as well as reduce asthma and heart related diseases. In other words, it is just another form of exercise!

I find it ridiculous to dig so deep in shit because there are bigger issues which should be addressed when it comes to muslim's health and practises. In the workshop i attended this weekend, there were statistics of HIV positive reported cases for year 2007. Out of 80,947 new reported cases, 34,000 were Malays, 19 thousand chinese, 11 thousand indian and the rest were marked no data ( due to the clients discretion of keeping their race anonymous). Surely the prevalence of contracting HIV is more of a bigger issue compared to practising Yoga. Yet we focus on redundant issues and make a big hoo hah about something which is ridiculously insignificant. 

Story 2

New fuel rebate system next year shows an increase in subsidy. For cars which are up to 2500cc, a rebate of RM650 will be awarded per year. Motorcycles with the capacity of up to 250cc will be awarded rm150 per year. A barrel of crude fuel is now priced at USD 65 compared to a few months ago, during our fuel price surge where a barrel costed USD76.44. Even so, Malaysian Fuel prices will see a decrease by next year only and it will not drop below RM1.92 because it is considered a reasonable price.

A rebate system should be able to subsidise efficiently for the poorer group, rather than make the rich richer. If a person can afford a 2500cc private vehicle, i dare say he or she is NOT making ends meet. What is the point of a rebate system if it cannot efficiently reduce the lower income group's needs?

We focus so much on how much is the appropriate amount to charge for fuel price. What about the fact that Malaysia is an Oil producing nation. When the price for fuel rose globally, we did not waste time and raise our prices by an alarming 41 percent. Now that the price has dropped back to what if was, we take our own sweet time to decrease the price. 

Story 3

The price of Avgas ( aviation fuel) has raise by 54% and is higher than in Singapore or Thailand. Flying students and owners of private jets are aghast by the raise of price. For an Aviation student, they will have to spend a good RM70,000 extra on fuel to complete their piloting course. 

Petronas has a monopoly on Avgas and yet the prices are rising. Singapore's Avgas's price dropped 3 months ago in fact. We promise the rakyat to drop fuel prices, but we raise aviation fuel prices. A robin hood situation i presume? Question is, how ethical was Robin Hood?