Has it really been 3 months already?

Has it really been 3 months already? Last week my cousin sister sent me an email asking me to update my blog. Today I noticed that I haven't updated it since Mar 20, almost 3 months.

I can't believe that I have been so engrossed with work and life so much to the extent that I have failed to come in here and express myself and let go whatever feelings and emotions which I have built up for so long and allow myself to slowly be eaten up by the everyday stresses of working and living in the city. Also many things has changed and happened in the 3 months I have been away. Earthquake in Si-chuan China and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar killing scores of people and more prominently back home, the fuel hike from RM1.92 to RM2.70 per litre of unleaded petrol. Whats worst, coming soon is the increase in electricity rates.

The only thing which I haven't heard is increasing is my salary and those of my fellow Malaysians. But being the peace loving and god fearing Malaysians we are, many of us (me included), life still goes on. I guess it's nothing new around here. The fuel price has been hiked many times in the past and look at us, we're still standing on our two feet.

On the 1st of April 2008, I have also moved into my own apartment, the one which I bought in 2004, completed and went through the key handover ceremony in Dec 2006 and had been rented out all this while. Finally the 'Malaysian dream' of mine of having a house and car of my own has 'materialized'. Now the only thing which is left to do for me is to work hard and make enough money to live happily in it.

I'm not one to complain much because my office is 10km away from where I live and I ride an old motorcycle to work everyday. My fuel usage, before the hike used to be RM70 per month and parking fees another RM10 per day. Now it's about RM100 (est) per month for fuel and the same RM10 for parking under the shade.

Driving would cost me about 5x more with the jam and extorbitant parking charges (RM8 per day!)Guess I've got nothing much to complain about. As for the quake and cyclone victims, I make sure I set aside some money (saved from not driving my car to work)to make donations every month. Its my own way of giving back and repaying my 'karma'.

Well, one thing which doesn't really make sense to me in the days after the 'aftermath' of the fuel price hikes. People are still driving around in their big ass gas guzzling cars as if the hike never happened. I'm not pro government or anything, just being sensible. All the calls for 'ubah gaya hidup' by our PM has probably yet to settle into our lifestyles or has fallen on deaf ears.

Things as simple as leaving half an hour or an hour earlier to work everyday constitutes the lifestyle change our govt has been encouraging us to do. Also I guess our mindsets has to change as well. When I say 'we' or 'our', I am including myself in the equation because I am also a member of everyday Malaysians angry at everything which dramatically alters our lifestyle. I am a rakyat too.

The world economy, global oil prices increase, greenhouse gases, depleting ozone layers, open burning for land clearance, earthquakes, floods, cyclones and hurricanes are all beyond our control as human beings, but our own mindset is. Small things like not driving like an F1 driver on steroids during rush hour traffic while trying to look like James Dean or leaving the house in Klang at 8:45am trying to reach the workplace in KLCC at 9am.

Other things include, not being a scrooge when it comes to servicing the car when it's scheduled to, which is every 5000km if you're using normal engine oils and around 7000-10000km if you're on da good stuff, like Mobil 1. I admit I used to be in that category as well. Doing this in the long run actually results in a worn out engine and higher fuel consumption. The other thing is tyres. I see many cars on the road with less than 20-30% thread left on them and many looking like Kojak's head (botak!). Cmon lah, are new tyres more expensive than the lives of the passengers you carry in your car? 'Fuel saving' tyres actually (if you inflate it right) does give you more mileage for the fuel you pump in your car.

The last thing I would like to share here is, because of the recent fuel hike, some opportunities have arise to make some good profit. The if you're looking for business opportunities, the sale of EPS fuel savers, fuel saving sticks, fuel additives and the likes of it to save from 5-25% on motorists' fuel consumption, you can write me an email at davegeh@gmail.com. There is always 2 sides to a coin. Even the chinese word for crisis (weiji) contains 2 characters, signifying both 'danger' and 'opportunity'. When you're in a crisis situation, take a look at the situation from the inside when you're in it, then step 'outside' of yourself and look at it in another light... there might be opportunity to be gained out of it.