Thursday, May 25, 2006

Here we go AGAIN!!!

(Laura: "Hope I can finish my homework before the candle burns out.")





The price of electricity is going up in a couple of weeks. By an AVERAGE of 12%! So please don't think that it is ONLY 12% okay? As with every announcement of this nature it is accompanied by great comedy in the newspapers and from the mouths of our elected representatives although we have not yet been told to change our lifestyle again. Not yet la.

Wait...wait...wait...actually got already.

The front page of The Sun today..."the more you use, the more you pay."

Translation: Change your lifestyle la.

Wait, there’s more. On page 4 of the NST today the Energy, Water and Communications Minister was quoted as saying, “….low-income consumers won’t be affected.” Great news? Not really.

What is means is, “If you are quite happy to remain in that shit hole you will not be affected by the new tariffs.”

With so much comedy in the news today I had to buy all 3 English language papers, The Sun, The Star and The New Straits Times today. Didn't want to miss out.

The editor of The Star today ought to audition as a comedian I think. The headline today read, "Watts Up!". Very punny. Hahahahaha...can die laughing with the ceiling fan on la. I

It is reported in all the papers I bought that TNB's rates increase is not going to affect about 60% of Malaysian households whose monthly electricity bill is below RM43.60! Yippee!

But wait a minute...how is it not going to affect these people when prices of everything else will go up too? Eventually.

The LRT runs on electricity, right? Food in markets and supermarkets have to be kept fresh with refrigeration and that takes electricity, right? Cinemas, which is one of the few forms of entertainment that the same 60% of the population can enjoy on a day out with the family, uses electricity, right? Are we going to be given an assurance that prices of everything else, that Malaysians need to live with a quality of life that is even slightly worthy of a country that we are constantly told is better than Ghana, is not going to increase proportionately? Yes, I know. In a few days time there will come the usual warnings by this Yang Berhormat’s and that Yang Berbahagia’s to traders and manufacturers that they should not increase prices unreasonably so as not to burden the rakyat. Blah...blah...blah. Press conferences will be organised. Heads will nod in agreement with the YB's pronouncements. And then..."Errr...When do we announce the price increase of our goods and services ah?"

TNB took out a double-paged advertorial in all 3 English language newspapers today to explain the tariffs increase and to advise consumers on methods to reduce consumption. Use low energy light bulbs they say. Because they consume less electricity. Oh thank you for that revelation. Do these guys even know how much those low energy bulbs cost?

And this is my favorite of their ‘suggestions’. Set air-conditioners to between 25 and 26 degrees Celsius. Surely they are sticking their tongues out at us when they say that. Have they ever sat or worked in an enclosed room where the temperature is 26 degrees Celsius? Might as well tell us to shut off the air-con and go sit next to a fire.

Oh yes. I don’t know if this is tragic or side splittingly funny. TNB is going to realise RM1.5 billion in revenue with this price hike. But TNB plans to spend RM40 billion in the next 5 years to upgrade and improve their electricity supply system. So where is the rest of the billions going to come from? No prizes for making the right guess. Maybe somebody (Pah Lah should do this since he seems to have the ability to make so much sense out of totally senseless stuff around here) should answer this question. Why and how did a company like TNB who have been in operation for decades get itself into this shitty situation? With its long history shouldn’t it have developed and improved enough to keep up with demand in the 21st century? Or was somebody sleeping on the job?

Which reminds me…every time I have seen TNB people at work it happens like this…one guy is sitting in the TNB truck smoking a cigarette. One guy is up on a ladder doing something apparently useful. And 4 other guys are standing at the foot of the ladder looking around. Small thing? Sure it is. But maybe that contributes to why you and I are paying more for power today. Bottom of ladder stand-abouts don’t come cheap I am told.

And then as if to make us even more pissed off YB Lim Keng Yaik then says that TNB must improve its service. You mean their service has been not up to mark? That might mean that we are paying for their mistakes, right? So, why should we?

The YB also said that TNB must commit to a service level agreement which, if it fails to live up to that, it will have to compensate consumers in the form of rebates. Yeah right! That is SO un-Malaysian, YB.

Okay, okay to be fair to Lim Keng Yaik and all the other YB’s in the government there must be some perfectly reasonable explanation for all this mess. But as a poor working slob who is not too intelligently savvy about economics, I feel that it is not being explained to me in a way that I can understand. I’ll be the first to admit that if I did understand I would put my patriotic shoulder to pull my weight in the same direction as everybody else. Otherwise I just feel I want to string up those TNB flers on the nearest lamp post.

Okay, okay I digress from the funny stuff in today’s papers. Turn to page 6 of the NST today. There those TNB flers are teaching you “How to POWER up your life and save ENERGY”. Roughly translated it means “since you’re F**Ked we’d like to rub your nose in the shit a bit more”. They are saying …

“Use compact flourescent light bulbs”!!!!!!
“Replace porch lights with motion sensor lights or light sensor bulbs”!!!!!!
“LCD/plasma TV sets use less energy than older models”!!!!!!

So are they saying to us that there are ways of reducing our spending on power? Sure. Except that we have to spend loads of money FIRST before the savings begin. Otherwise you join the rest in the shit-holes and save right from the start. Your choice. Hey! We’re not anything if we’re not democratic.

Here’s something that is not so funny la. Someone in his PR department should teach the Energy, Water and Communications Minister that he should not smile when he’s just made an announcement that’s pissed off a few million people. Look at him…
“Ah…we only allow 12% increase only. So ah the lower income people will not be affected la. Yes, very good, very good.”
Notice that the TNB flers are not smiling… “how the hell are we going to raise the rest of the money?”

Okay lah. After all that ranting I guess we should all be glad that our electricity tariffs are the cheapest in the region except for Indonesia. And F**K! we’re having a way better life than those losers in Ghana. So…….

RELEK AH, BRUDDER!

A fellow blogger called me this morning and requested that I compliment the PR guys handling all these announcements of the electricity tariff increase. Good job guys. Great timing. When the World Cup starts in a couple of weeks nobody will remember or care too much about TNB. And when the World Cup fever ends after a month all Malaysians will go back to life in Bolehland which will still be better than Ghana.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

'TOKKOK' should be the gomen's theme la... cos that's what they have been doing since "tak-a-pak-lah came to office.

Anonymous said...

Hello brudder, more reasons to tell the spouse that it is time for candle-lit dinner at home isn't it?

Can jimat and can romance-romance a bit;)

Anonymous said...

"Maybe somebody (Pah Lah should do this since he seems to have the ability to make so much sense out of totally senseless stuff around here)should answer this question."

Oh, easy lah.. to answer that he will only need to say 'Ini keputusan yang diambil setelah mendapat persetujuan/perbincangan dengan menteri menteri.. bla bla.. kabinet...bla bla.. = MAJORITY shit again. Damn boring lah the old man answers, always the same, want to tipu also, be more creative and make it believeable...And you are right Patrick, some ministers will sure come out and say 'Ah, our price is still cheaper than 'put any 3rd world, african country name here', we should be grateful.. berdiri di belakang PM kita.. argh!!!!!!! same old shits thrown at us...

gP said...

wait da minute...im part of which 60%? Do they get Bumiputra discounts? Is this 60% includes the 12 percent who actually owns 90% of Malaysia's buying and paying power and never pays?

U kno wat, these days I'm learning more maths and stats on blogs and news and from ministers than i ever did in school. No wonder la got alot of teacher around.

Buggers I say, lets all move to Ghana and rear goats.

Anonymous said...

free ringtones!!! it's free, ok...not charges, no price hike!

thanks, pat!

Darius said...

i got waya putus la when i read the paper today. this is the big reasons people will save their money and buy pirated stuffs la.
aiyo everything already mahal lah, nak marah lebih2 takut kena ISA. cit.

Anonymous said...

Probably doing this to make you pay for using your computer to write your blogs. So you're going to save money and write less??

Anonymous said...

Increase 12% now, then before the next election, bring it down to 6% and tell people, see we cut rates by half, we listen to the people, we care (ugh!) for the people. Bah!

Unknown said...

Bottom of ladder stand-abouts are trained professionals who catches the ligh bulbs or even the one climbing up if they fall. So that justifies the USD 3000 per lamp post salary they're gettting.

TNB - Tarif Naik Beb!

Anonymous said...

Bottom of ladder stand-abouts are actually former circus performers. They were hired for their agility (in climbing up ladders fast, thus replacing blown bulbs at a faster rate than a non-circus performer)but obviously they're not doing their job.

:--)))

Anonymous said...

If we are so out of money, why give out funds to other countries? Check out the news. A few billion money transfer has been done to fund Palestine. I know giving donation is good but this feels like the old proverb, correct me if i am wrong, kera di hutan di susui, anak dirumah ...something something

Cuddly Family said...

Part of our prob is also apathy.. (not all of us lah), malaysians will hangat-hangat discuss issue.. until bosan, then find something else to discuss.. and still nothing gets done, right?

Dont even get me started on MPPJ.....

1st world country indeed.. Still got 3rd class mentality and 'tude..

Yeah, Ghana!

Anonymous said...

One thing that i really want to know about the 60%...or let me ask this way...how many % of the KL population will be affected? 100%? those 60% are likely the rural people and sub-urban people. Stop telling us about the 60% but tell us more about this 40%...

BTW, if you are living alone, in a not so big house, setting your A/C to 25-26 C is kinda okay (cool but not cold).

Anonymous said...

"TNB must commit to a service level agreement which, if it fails to live up to that, it will have to compensate consumers in the form of rebates. "

Hello..if the minister/govt really means this, then why didn't the minister/govt insist that this clause be inserted as part of the agreement with all electricity users before allowing the price hike. So it is pure bullshit at the end of the day as there is nothing to hold TNB liable if we were to have a blackout!!

also, i think the minister should realize not everyone pockets are as deep as his to go out n buy a LCD/plasma TV before June 06...well maybe some already has in preparation of the world cup fever but that is another story.

ha..ha... if the air con was at 26 degrees, you think all the men in the picture would be dressed up in their suits n tie looking so comfortably.

i have enough with this pak lah n his govt....first was we are against corruption...after all the hype....what happened?? even a MP dares to admit to the nation that he asked the customs to close one eye n has the audacity to say to some effect what's the big deal., then, we see petrol price being increased, oh yes sir thank you for not increasing anymore this year but comes 2007 are u going to hit us with a RM 1 increase to make up the non-increase during the second half of 2006, now the electricity tarriff is also increased, then what?? water? toll?

ok sorry about the ranting but i am pissed n i did write into the star many times on such issues including the famous bridge, but never got published...not surprised though

Anonymous said...

All kura-kura GLCs (TNB, Proton, MAS, etc.) have one common problem: many big fat-arse lintah darat clinging on to it (in the legitimate form of IPP, bumi vendors, PMC) sucking the tax payers' hard-earned money! Everybody knows they exist but nothing can be done since they are protected by the very YBs that you voted!

Surprised to read Jeff Ooi's report that we actually have 40% excess capacity that literally goes up in smoke at the end of every day. With the "lifestyle change", that excess capacity will definitely increase. Then what are we gonna do? Sell it to Singapore at 2sen per kWh?

Anonymous said...

SS said...
"If we are so out of money, why give out funds to other countries? Check out the news. A few billion money transfer has been done to fund Palestine...."

Ah, well, brotherhood, mah. Why do you think we are so nice to Indonesia, eh? Despite them smoking us outta our home once a year, we are still buddy buddy with them...give them PR status (never mind if they cause us endless troubles and some even hold dual jobs; work in the day, rob/rape at nite!)..forcing us to offer good packages to their maids, etc. All in the name of brotherhood, mah...

Poppadumdum said...

A huge fuss made over Chin Peng and the deaths he caused during the Emergency but now Emperor Akihito is going to visit Perak and NO ONE says a word about Japanese War Crimes culpability - as the representative of an unrepentant and unapologetic nation which caused so many deaths to loyal Malayans and Brits in the Second World War, why isn't HE banned from entering the country? Remember the Sook Ching campaigns, anyone? Remember the rapes, the tortures, the live disembowelling -all this didn't just happen in Nanking but in peaceful towns all across Malaya and South East Asia.

Anonymous said...

See..... no wonder prices of every thing goes up. Even the Gov cannot control the prices of petrol/electricity from increasing, but they ask all the retailers and businesses to control and not to up the prices. How?

Increase productivity but dont use too much electricity. How? Most of the time you can see street light kept on at 12.00 noon ??!..

We all know how to save electricity lah because we pay bills mah.Sometimes I feel like the Gov is asking us to cut our toes to fit the shoes. Hell man...!

PS.Your Kids looks cute and adorable. Really delicious!!

CHEERS ANYWAY...

adiba said...

yay!

like finally...

i can convince mom on why we should get a plasma tv.

thanks lim keng yaik. i owe u one.

Lydia Teh said...

Patrick, you very astute fler. I got some suggestions on how to deal with the hike. But too long to post here. If you're interested, hop over to my blog for a read.

Cuddly Family said...

yes, I see the "ways to save electricity" article in the Star today..the more I look at it, I think aiyoo..

so instead of saying to our kids, "U know u guys have so ez now", we can say.. u know, "back in our day, we actually had electricity" as we lit the lamps for the evening....

Anonymous said...

Hi Patrick,

You're spot on, man. And to rub salt into the wound, there was power failure this afternoon in my office in Kelana Jaya for almost 3 hours! What a way to "threaten" consumers and businesses into tolerating that 12% rise in rates. Bugger it...!

Anonymous said...

Did you know?
TNB has been losing a lot of money—being forced to buy excess energy from YTL..
This stupid agreement was made back in 1997 when we had that huge nationwide blackout..remember?
This involves the conspiracy that got Ani Arob to resign when he was the head man in TNB because he refused to sign the agreement.

James Wong Wing-On said...

Patrick, we indeed live under a really half-past-six (= kepala ada again) regime.

Anonymous said...

Of late, it's really getting to be so unbearably stupid. The 3 Stooges cud've done a better job, I tell ya. I rest my case.

Anonymous said...

why TNB not earning money? blame it on the previous administration that signed contracts/agreements which are so loop-sided..

Anonymous said...

Sorry.. made a boo-boo. Not excess energy..
TNB was forced (still are) to buy energy off YTL at a higher cost!
:P

patrickteoh said...

I don't know symposium's comments fits in with the topic of this post but it raises another very relevant question...
"...A huge fuss made over Chin Peng and the deaths he caused during the Emergency but now Emperor Akihito is going to visit Perak and NO ONE says a word about Japanese War Crimes culpability - as the representative of an unrepentant and unapologetic nation which caused so many deaths to loyal Malayans and Brits in the Second World War, why isn't HE banned from entering the country?..."