Dengkil, Jan 2 – Some quarters are fond of taking the opportunity to play up popular issues without considering the impact it has on the country’s future, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
Ahmad Shabery said the current hot topic regarding price hike was actually experienced by all countries, but Malaysia is regarded as among countries that are able to control the rate of price increases.
“If they want to talk about increasing prices, I’d like them to prove if there is any other country where it’s prices go down and doesn’t go up,” he said.
He said: “People speak of oil prices in Venezuela as the lowest in the world, but look at the inflation rate there.
“There (Venezuela) don’t talk about 10-20 per cent, the inflation rate in a country with the cheapest oil is about 50-100 per cent,” he told reporters after visiting a former Radio Televisyen Malaysia children’s show personality, Jamal Muhamad, 75, who now suffers from serious back problems, here today.
Therefore, Ahmad Shabery said Petronas’ move to invest its profits in the exploration of new oil fields for oil reserves abroad was justified to sustain the country’s economic resilience in the future.
“So open your eyes, is it right to ask for all of Petronas’ profits for the people to enjoy without Petronas being able to use it to invest in new wells for our country’s future,” he asked.
He also chided those who disrupted the ‘Be There’ countdown organised by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall at Dataran Merdeka last night and attended by about 10,000 people who came to usher the Year 2014 at the stroke of midnight.
The countdown was marred by anti-price hike protesters, forcing the Datuk Bandar of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib to cancel off the concert that was in progress.
“I guess the Datuk Bandar’s decision to call off the concert was a good one,” he said.
– Bernama
