how the mighty fall

Oh, what a wonderful time to be a consumer in Malaysia.

Prices just seem to be dropping all around us, from clothes to FMCGs to plane tickets. All thanks to the economic recession plaguing the US. It's quite gratifying, truth be told, to read about corporation after corporation winding up due their insatiable gluttony for profit, profit and more profit. I doubt many average Joes will shed even a tear for the dearly departed in Wall Street, which includes Lehmann Brothers, AIG and Bear Stearns. More will follow, for sure, all victims of of their own financial gluttony.

And what's even more satisfying is the perpetual fall of oil prices. What had, at one time been US$140 per barrel is now below US$59. And there's no sight of the bottom. Will oil eventually cost US$1 per barrel in the near future? Definitely rubs mud in the faces of analysts who predicted US$200 as the magical figure come 2009.

One can only salute Air Asia for scrapping the immensely unpopular fuel surcharge from the price of tickets. A much appreciated move, even if it's more due to pragmatic economics rather than sincere goodwill. Once again, MAS is on the backfoot. Maintain the surcharge, and lose business. Remove it, and profits drop. They deserve nothing more, I reckon.

And then we have the cutthroat mamak restaurateurs who have been maintaining their inflated prices even in the wake of the collapse of oil prices. As it were, they spouted a myriad of excuses when raising their prices (too expensive to transport milk, flour, their families etc); now they're singing about why they can't lower prices.

I, for one, am not going to buy into that mumbo-jumbo about how they're dropping prices by up to 20 or 30 sen. Technically, the prices should be way lower than even before the price of petrol rose, sometime last year. Raising the price of Milo Ais by 50 sen, then reducing it by 10 sen still sees a net increment of 40 sen. So is the new price of Milo Ais really reflective of current market forces, or just another piece of wool pulled over the public's eyes?

It's always mamak restaurants who are quick to increase food prices, and even quicker to justify them. While I do appreciate mamak sessions, I think it's high time we stopped putting up with their crap. I'm loath to use the word 'boycott', but yeah, something of the kind. Start small, and avoid the mamak chains; this includes the Pelitas, the Nasi Kandar Kayus and the Tanjungs. The roadside dudes are okay, they rarely, if ever, raise prices and still sell roti canai, for example, at well below a ringgit.

Let these greedy bastards really feel the pinch of having empty restaurants, and then we'll see how they price their ware.

To paraphrase Jackie Chan, "when the buying stops, the prices drop".