I am a victim of the gross incompetence of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s former government. I received my driving license for more than 10 years but I did not own a car because I found traveling by bus convenient.

Then came the national car and the bus service deteriorated. Still, I tried to travel to work by bus until it came to a stage whereby the bus schedule became unpredictable. I risked arriving to work or appointments late and I could not afford that. Owning a car is not a prestige but a liability (eg, maintenance costs, road tax, parking fees etc.).

I found that the bus service in Penang deteriorated after the emergence of the national car and the ‘one family, one car’ policy. This policy was myopic because we know that other countries suffered from traffic problems and were reverting to public transportation even at that time. While countries are getting out of the traffic congestion mess they were in, Malaysia was so eager to rush in.

I wouldn’t even register my protest at the recent fuel price hike if we have an option such as an efficient public transportation system. But we don’t have that option. The government should have put public transportation on top of its agenda a long time ago but it didn’t because it is going to affect the sale of the national car.

To those who gave these cars, I would suggest that they try selling it and see how much they are going to get. Again, I beg to differ when some say that ‘the government is doing this (improving the public transportation) a bit too late’ because it should have read ‘much too late’.

Let us not look too far back. Were we not told that the parliament would not be dissolved on the day it was dissolved and were we not told that the petrol prices for the country would only be revamped in August? I may have a bad memory but not brain degeneration.

Such a petrol price increase is going to cause double-digit inflation rate and this it is not healthy for the country as a whole, in particular for the middle and lower-income groups. They have to bear the brunt of the impact even if they do not own a car or a motorcycle.

I cannot figure how Bank Negara can predict the inflation rate to be only around 4.5%. For those who support the current rate of petrol price increase, please do not complain about rising food prices and other living expenditures because any increase in fuel (remember: cooking gas is included) and energy (electricity) rates is going to have a snowballing effect of all other consumer services or products.

Also remember that we still have individuals who earn only several hundred ringgit per month, minus their room rentals and what else they have to pay for just to surviv. Have a heart for the innocent victims.