• My car is due for road tax, insurance and 40K service.

It’s the time of the year again. Renewing my road tax, auto insurance premium and to top it off, my car is due to be sent in for major servicing. Punching the numbers in my calculator, I’ll be RM1600 lighter by the end of the month. That’s right about the starting pay level for degree holders in Malaysia. Ridiculous isn’t it.

Gawd, owning a car is a luxury in Malaysia nowadays. With escalating fuel prices, it makes no sense to drive about town in a car with an engine above 2.0 litre cc. Mine’s 1.5cc, and already I’m looking at RM300 monthly petrol cost. Families below the poverty line could feed an entire family for a month with RM300.