If our neighboring Singaporeans were to get back at us Malaysians for calling them the FINE country, then perhaps the best move, is to call Malaysia the PREMIUM country.

Here’s why.

I was just driving down south towards Kluang from Malacca this morning and it hit me, that in the last 96 hours or so, I had paid RM96.60 in toll fares alone. The Breakdown:

Thursday (9.9.2010) Kluang to Malacca = RM15.90
Friday (10.9.2010) Malacca to Kuala Lumpur to Malacca = RM16.50 x 2 = RM33.00
Saturday (11.9.2010) Malacca to Kluang to Malacca = RM15.90 x 2 = RM31.80
Sunday (12.9.2010) Malacca to Kluang = RM15.90

Total = RM96.60 or RM24.15 per day.

Say I’m just an average wage earner making say, RM3000 a month or RM100 a day, paying toll fares alone will take up 24.15% of my daily income. And that, to me, is a Premium.

And that doesn’t include my Petrol costs. ( And I still had to be stuck in a Jam. On a Highway. Bugger. )

Which leads me to a realization, that :

1. Our currency’s purchasing power, is Poor. 

2. We don’t get the same value of service from the Premium that we are paying for.

3. Think about the so many extra unnecessary expenditures we’ve got to pay for due to the incompetency of the authorities.

4. We pay extra to send our children for tuitions because quality of teaching in our schools are below the mark. Add that on top of our kiasu culture.

5. We pay extra security fees in our neighborhoods because the police are just hopeless.

6. We pay extra to install water filters in our homes because the water supply from the government is contaminated.

7. We pay extra to subscribe to Astro because our National TV channels are broadcasting crap.

8. We pay extra to Independent Power Producers because our government cannot supply consistent electricity.

9. We pay extra to Indah Water to clear up our sewage system.

10. We pay extra to get ourselves our own vehicles because our Public Transport System is shitty. And on top of that,

11. We pay extra to get imported and better cars so that our government can keep our National Car Make alive.

12. We pay extra to Private Hospitals because our Public Hospitals are too crowded.

13. We pay extra for Petrol because the government wants to save money for Education and Healthcare. And then they announce RM115 billion or so to develop Klang Valley alone. Hmm.

Add all these things together, we are actually paying a PREMIUM to live in this country right?

When our government, with our abundance of resources and wealth we once had, could have provide all these as “Standard” for all citizens to enjoy.

Malaysia Boleh!