78 Sen! That’s Humongous!
(Above photos taken at exactly 11.58pm at Shell Station along Jalan Mesjid “Green Lane” Penang)
It’s like waking up into a nightmare, One minute you are struggling with the high cost of living and the next you are choked with it. We expected fuel to rise maybe in a couple of months but this has caught us by surprise. If the price has gone up by, say 10 or 20 sen - well, we can manage it, but 78sen! That’s humongous! And the worst part is that it came too fast too soon. We were caught off handed.
And like a typical Malaysian, especially from Penang, I tried to fill up my tank after hearing the news. But then every petrol station I drove by, there are like thousand of cars queuing to do the same. The “Kiasu arise” So I thought I’ll forget about it. So I went for dinner with a friend. And after dinner, on my way home - thats around 11.30 we saw this petrol station with a very short queue. So we drove and joined the queue. As we slowly eased into the petrol station, there was this guy telling us, sorry, the petrol was all sold out.
So we drove on and was about to head home when we saw another station with just a few cars on the other side of the road. We quickly made a U-turn, and by the time we got there there were like another 20 cars that went ahead of us. But then it didn’t take us that long for our turn. And half the pumps were closed - emptied! Yep, so I managed to pump RM50 into my tank. In another 30mins I would have to pay another RM20 more! Yep, 40% more. This is crazy!
Anyway, on my way home, I saw a couple of stations which normally operate 24hrs were closed. Sold out! Wiped out! Cleaned up! Then, I saw this Shell station along Green Lane and there were still along queue of cars waiting. The time 11.58pm! I managed to take some pictures with my phone camera. Yes, these are the last group of cars that get to fill up their tanks for RM1.92! History makers!
What a gloomy day for all motorists. Tomorrow many will be rushing to the bicycle shops. Yes, back to the good old push-bike! Down up paddle, down up we go!
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