Not Your Average Super Hero

There are heroes… there are superheroes… and then there’s Hancock.

That's the catchy line of this movie. I caught the trailer of this movie while watching KungFu Panda 2 weeks ago and the movie really caught my eye. With so many superhero movies coming out these days (Iron Man, Hulk, Dark Night etc), here's one that is an un-hero. Not your typical goody superhero.

The role of Hancock is played by Will Smith, someone who had plenty of experience in edgy and funny roles. Think Bad Boys, non-typical cops and think Men-in-Black.

I wonder what a Malaysian superhero would be like. Perhaps, a typical daddy who is fed up with the road bullies in KL and doing a 'Batman' and starts to "strike fear" to those who use fear on others. Perhaps, he will equip his "Black" car with the latest gadgetry like "oil slick", "spikes" and other "weapons" to destroy the many road bully's vehicles.

Yah.. but first.. he probably needs to get approval from JPJ etc for all the modification.

For more info on this movie - read here.

Facts not in the Main Stream Media

Does the subsidy sound like a subsidy or does it sound like a penalty? This just seems to be a heavy increment in our daily cost of living as we are not only charged with high car taxes but also with a drastic increase in fuel price.

Car taxation is government profit, fuel sales is Petronas' (GLC) profit which also translates into government profit. The government may ridicule us Malaysians by saying look at the world market and fuel price worldwide.

We know the international rates are above the USD 130/barrel. We understand the fact that the fuel prices are increasing worldwide and we also know that major scientist are still contradicting on why this phenomenon is happening.

Again we go back to numbers to be more straight fwd 1 barrel = 159 liters x RM2.70/liter = RM 429 or USD 134

On 1 hand, we are paying the full cost of 1 barrel of crude oil with RM2.70 per liter but on the other hand the crude oil only produces 46% of fuel. Msia sells crude oil per barrel at USD130 buys back Fuel per barrel at USD134. And not forgetting, every barrel of fuel is produced with 2 barrels of crude oil.

1 barrel crude oil = produce 46% fuel (or half of crude oil), therefore 2 barrel crude oil = approximately 1 barrel fuel. In other words, each time we sell 2 barrels of crude oil, equivalently we will buy back 1 barrel of fuel.

Financially, Malaysia sell 2 barrel crude oil @ USD 130/barrel =USD 260 = RM 858
then, Malaysia will buy back fuel @ USD 134/barrel = RM 442/barrel

Thus, Malaysia earn net extra USD 126 = RM 416 for each 2 barrel of crude sold/exported vs imported 1 barrel of fuel !!! (USD 260-134 = USD 126 = RM416)

So where this extra USD 126/barrel income is channeled to by Malaysian Govt?

Misleading concept of Subsidy:
The word "subsidy" has been brandished by the BN government as if it has so generously helped the rakyat and in doing so incurred losses.

This simple example will help to explain the fallacy:

Example: Ahmad is a fisherman. He sells a fish to you at $10 which is below the market value of $15. Let's assume that he caught the fish from the abundance of the sea at little or no cost. Ahmad claims that since the market value of the fish is $15 and he sold you the fish for $10, he had subsidised you $5 and therefore made a loss of $5.

Question : Did Ahmad actually make a profit of $10 or loss of $5 which he claimed is the subsidy?

Answer: Ahmad makes a profit of $10 which is the difference of the selling price ($10) minus the cost price ($0 since the fish was caught from the abundance of the sea). There is no subsidy as claimed by Ahmad.

The BN government claims that it is a subsidy because the oil is kept and treated as somebody else's property (you know who). By right, the oil belongs to all citizens of the country and the government is a trustee for the citizens. So as in the above simple example, the BN government cannot claim that it has subsidised the citizen!

Source: From forwarded email. If you know the source, please let me know.

Technorati Tags: Fuel hike, Malaysia, Lies, Subsidy

Nokia Killer is out!

This baby is going to be sold for less than RM700 a pop. It will make Nokia & SE cry. The present owners of the iPhone will also be cursing their luck. They bought theirs for more than RM1700.

Businessweek said:

Almost a year after upending the mobile-phone world with its first wireless handset, the iPhone, Apple unveiled a souped-up second version of the device, the iPhone 3G. Introduced by Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs in a June 9 keynote address in San Francisco, the iPhone 3G will sell for $199 for an 8GB version and $299 for a 16GB version. The new prices represent a departure from a year ago when the first devices sold for $599 on the upper end. The iPhone 3G will be available in 22 countries beginning July 11, and will eventually be sold in 70 countries in all.

The new phone derives its name from the faster Internet downloads available on advanced, or third-generation (3G), wireless networks. Jobs told the audience the new iPhone downloads Web pages as much as 36% faster than comparable phones from Nokia (NOK) and Palm (PALM). The new phone also sports a feature that lets users know their location using GPS satellites. Phones that run GPS technology are able to access an array of location-aware applications, including mapping within address books. Other improvements over the original device include improved audio quality on phone calls.

Read more here

Technorati Tags: iphone 3G, apple, nokia, cellphone

Do we need a Fuel Hike?

Malaysia = RM 2.70/litre

This chart is not shown by our national newspapers.


Is it really necessary for a oil exporting country like Malaysia to follow the market price or futures price of petrol? You tell me.

Free Cash for Bikes & Small Cars

MalaysiaKini announced that the Malaysian Government will give cash for motorcyclists, small-car owners as subsidy for the fuel hike - according to a source. Other information leaked out of the Cabinet meeting this morning: 

• Direct cash payments to motorcyclists and small-car owners when the price of petrol goes up. The payments are expected to be implemented through postal orders
• No increase for LPG cooking gas and NGV for taxis
• Gas subsidy to power industrial sector to be gradually reduced
  
• Extra tax on independent power producers (IPPs) and palm oil millers
  

The decision of the cabinet, which met this morning, will be announced at 5pm at a press conference in Prime Minister’s Department.

Currently petrol sells for about RM1.92 a litre, among the cheapest in the region.

If petrol is to be sold at full market prices, it could be as high as almost RM4 a litre - about 100 percent above current levels.