I would actually laugh at the childish and lack of entrepreneurial mentality of ome who would suggest that the rakyat should appreciate the government's effort to reduce the price of fuel by a whopping 70 sen since the last price hike of 78 sen to RM2.72.

At this juncture, even my teenage son would lamented at the naive thinking of these people. The predicament the rakyat are facing now is not so much the quantum of the reduction but rather whether the current price of the petrol is reflective of the global fuel cost.

Let me use an illustration to enlighten these people’s simple mind set. Suppose a sole petty trader has indiscriminately increases the price of his goods simply because he was a monopoly for the trade.

But when more traders came into the market and created healthy competition, he reluctantly reduced his prices though they were still higher than those of the other traders.

Now, tell me, should I still buy from this trader still and thank him profoundly for his ‘kindness and generosity’ in lowering his prices for me?

In the case of petrol sale in Malaysia, unfortunately, it is a bit more complex than this and moreover, the sale of petrol is being monopolised by our irresponsible government. The hastiness of the government in increasing the price in June without careful monitoring of the global situation actually reflects its inability and careless attitude that has in turn unnecessarily burdened the rakyat .

With the last increase, the inflation rate in the country shot up to unprecedented levels as petty traders took the opportunity to increase their prices in order to maintain their profit margins at the expense of the wage earners.

The question now is what proactive efforts have the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry seriously undertaken to ensure that we - the rakyat - are not made the further victims of these irresponsible profiteers?

The minister concerned has reiterated that the ministry cannot do much in the current situation as the traders’ prices are fixed subject to demand. This is pure rubbish.

At current global petroleum prices, the cost per litre of petrol at the pump in Malaysia is still comparatively high and should actually be lower than RM2.

Should I also mention that the government should not just compare our petrol prices per se with other developed countries such as Singapore and the UK. Other factors such as per capita income, the exchange rate and the fact that we are the net petroleum exporter must also be considered.

Having looked at all this, should the rakyat still continue to be grateful?