A+ | A- | Reset
Home arrow The Blogs arrow News/Commentaries arrow From wacky to practical

From wacky to practical PDF Print
Posted by admin   
Thursday, 05 June 2008 10:25

KUALA LUMPUR: Bring back the trishaw. Bring back the bicycle. Bring back the bullock cart, even.

The rickshaw is touted as an environmentally friendly alternative.
The rickshaw is touted as an environmentally friendly alternative.

These are among suggestions by consumers to help ease rising fuel prices and the increasing cost of living.

"Besides, it will reduce pollution. Also, the trishaw and bicycle can promote tourism, sports and health, especially getting rid of pot-bellies!" said senior citizen Anthony Joseph Lim, 80.

Lim suggested bringing back the rickshaw.

The rickshaw, so called after the Japanese-era jinrickshaw, was one of the earliest public land transport and was introduced in the country around 1895 before buses and taxis replaced them in the 1960s.

On a more serious note, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations president Datuk N. Marimuthu gave some tips on getting more out of every litre of petrol.

"Only fill up your vehicle in the early morning when the ground temperature is cold. Remember, service stations have buried storage tanks.

"The colder the ground, the more dense the fuel. When it gets warmer, petrol expands. Thus, buying in the afternoon will give you a litre which is not exactly a litre," he said.

"A one-degree temperature rise is a big deal for business. But service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps," said Marimuthu.

He advised motorists to squeeze the nozzle's trigger at a low speed, thereby minimising vapours created while pumping.

"Fast pumping will cause liquid petrol to vaporise and get sucked back through the hose's vapour return mechanism. You are getting less for your money."

Another tip was to refuel when your tank is half full.

"The more fuel in your tank means less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine.

"Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimises the evaporation."

Marimuthu called on motorists not to refuel when a fuel truck is pumping into the underground storage tank as it could stir up sediment.

- nst

Comments (8)Add Comment
...
written by JJ Kuyong, June 05, 2008 10:29:52
So Badawi reversed the country to the 60s with trishaw, bicycles and bullock cart roaming in the city......hahaha what a Malaysian PM!
report abuse
disagree 1
agree 12
...
written by eeyaw, June 05, 2008 10:38:47
For those who stay near the sea in Penang use sampan to paddle to work. Joggling & bicycling are other options. See a SYT try to flag her down for a lift or feign faint.
report abuse
disagree 1
agree 7
...
written by Lostsoul12, June 05, 2008 10:43:48
"Bring back the trishaw. Bring back the bicycle. Bring back the bullock cart, even."

I've another (better & more realistic) suggestion, why don't we kick out bn/umno and bring PK in!
report abuse
disagree 1
agree 4
...
written by Counterpointer, June 05, 2008 11:06:17
In line with the proposal above, the official gomen mode of transport for the PM effective today shall be as below:


Hallmark of a good leader: Leading by example.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 17
...
written by indianputra, June 05, 2008 11:07:56
The public transport system in Malaysia sucks. The BN Government has absolutely no idea on how to imrove the public transportation. Learn from Singapore... but they won't because they are so egoistic. The rise in petrol price is going to affect all middle and low income people. But, I don't think BN cares.

It is still not too late. A commission of locals and foreign experts must be immediately sanctioned to look into ways and means of improving the public transportation in Malaysia. No politician must be involved in this. Only people of known reputation must lead this commision.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 5
...
written by budakindia, June 05, 2008 12:27:38
Isn't that ironic to have old fashioned transport where we an oil exporting country? Is this how Abdullah runs the country? smilies/angry.gif They all can burn in Hell for what I care! smilies/angry.gif
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 3
...
written by Bunda, June 05, 2008 13:14:33
It is now time to implement some of the tried and proven strategies to lessen the burden on the rakyat:

1) Make it compulsory to public andp private sector employees to only work 4-day work week. Rotate the staffing requirements so that the government and businesses can still operate on a 5-day week. This would save 20% on the commuting costs of every employee.

2) Reschedule the schooling days. Our children have too many schooling days, compared to other countries. What we need is more quality education, and less quantity. Unfortunately, our education system has too little of the former, and too much of the latter. Imagine the amount of fuel saved because of less transportation needs and the energy saved from the schools not being used.

3) Stagger the working hours in the Klang Valley, JB, and Penang. Too much fuel is spent idling on the city roads that become parking lots during peak rush hours.

4) Provide incentives to companies to have a viable program to encourage employees to work from home. This would imply that our broadband internet infrastructure also needs to be upgraded pronto.

5) Although fuel is market price in the USA, most foodstuffs over there are still cheaper than in Malaysia. That means our market system is imperfect, with too much government regulation and wastage. Adhere to free market principles, and our costs should be more manageable in the long run.

6) Hold the BN government accountable for the lack of a world-class public transportation system. The decades of economic mismanagement and waste and corruption is now coming home to roost. The rakyat should actually be as rich as the Koreans or Taiwanese at least (since we seem to have an aversion in comparing with Singapore). If we were, the burden of oil prices won't be as heavy.

7) We have 1.15 million private sector individual taxpayers supporting 1.14 civil servants. This is a bloated bureucracy that is draining the country dry. Cut down on the number, and we would have savings that can be channelled to subsidies and development programs.

smilies/cool.gif Hold the BN government accountable for wasting our hard-earned tax dollars. Development projects should not include useless walkways, parks, unused public facilities, and all the various useless projects that do not add to the earning capacity of the country.

smilies/cool.gif smilies/cool.gif smilies/cool.gif
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 5
...
written by Sean E, June 05, 2008 14:41:38
Funny that our government must spend every single Ringgit that it has.

In the case of individual, we will park our excess cash in income generating assets for rainy days (retirement, medical bills etc).

I can't imagine what will happen to our country when our oil and gas run out.

We shall go the Zimbabwe way. May be TDM will be invited to retired there by his good buddy Robert Mugabe.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 3

Write comment
This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.
You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

busy
 
< Prev   Next >
 
Some Images Hosted With
Thank You ImageShack!
 BLOGGERS AGAINST ISA

Powered and Optimized for:
Malaysia Today by MT-TEAM