30 sen Vs RM90.00

You don't need a Ph.D in Economics to figure out that an increase as little as 30 sen on the price of gas will hit the poor in a big way. Don't go jump the gun accusing me of trying to appear smart talking about economics when you know very well that I have never been to a university, or have ever seen a breathing professor in real life to know any better that I shouldn't go over to take off his pair of academic glasses to pick up a fight with him just because I believe I can take him down. Some professors are silat exponents, this I know for a fact.

If there's one thing I notice about the poor in this country is they don't like to re-cycle things. They'd rather buy things brand new and run big monthly instalments with furniture giants like Courts Mammoth. Maybe I'm wrong to say this but I've been to enough houses around squatter areas to know better that most of them own huge TVs, DVDs, subsribe to Astro, and own a nice set of living room furniture. I've been to a lot of houses in the ghettos in Chicago, New Orleans and small towns Mid-West America to write this with confidence that most poor folks there don't mind buying second hand sofa, or restore a dining table, or putting on second-hand winter coats. They also repair things a lot more than the folks in squatter areas around this fine city.

Now you may ask how do I know all this? I do a lot of voluntary work during the weekend for an organization to help the poor get by, fixing things for them, or distributing food items that we got from generous donors. Some of these donors are big names in the corporate world but I don't have the permission to mention them because they want to keep a very very low profile.

I've been cursed, even chased a few times for suggesting to some of these poor folks that they should restore some of the furnitures they considered useless eventhough I know for sure that all it took for a dining table to be good as new was a new spine . Instead they'd rather order a brand new dining set from a glossy catalogue and work hard to meet the monthly payment. And they don't know any better about furniture design to see the dining set they've just bought is totally useless when broken because it is built in such a way that it would be very difficult for a craftman to repair. Mass produced furnitures are like that. They are not meant to be repaired. They are meant to be replaced when broken because it's purely economics that you keep the consumers buying new things instead of restore, refurbish and rebuild. I guess that's why they have made tools so expensive these days so that it will discourage men to pick up skills how to repair things. And those tool-makers are smart too. They've come up with cordless screwdrivers that cost as little as RM50.00. But any guy with half a brain knows that you don't need this because all you have to do is calculate the number of times in a month you screw or unscrew something to really need something as superflous a cordless screwdriver with built-in MP3. A manual screwdriver Made in China is about RM3.00. It works just fine except you have to use a bit of muscle power to get it going. Any man with a quarter of a brain knows that a bit of muscle power is good for the bones in the long run. Go figure.

You may find this funny but I find it pathetic. Once I was at this house of a poor family to fix a kitchen cabinet about to crumble itself from too much weight. It took me about 3 hours to get it done, and through-out this time, the man of the house, able as an ox, strong as a professional wrestler, sat through it all watching a soccer game on tv, not wanting to lift a finger to learn anything about basic carpentry. I could tell the missus was embarassed but I have experienced cases like this once too many to form my opinion about the attitude of the poor in this country who is very quick to complain about something like 30sen petrol hike, but never give it a serious thought about paying RM90.00 monthly to Astro.

If you wanna do things I do during the weekend, you need to bring your own set of tools and take my advice, please keep your eyes on the tools because there's somekind of sick people out there who like nothing but to steal tools of a volunteer who is there to help them. It's a sick society, but I've got used to it. That's why I don't bring my Stanley or Snap-On tools with me. I've got another set, Made In China that they can steal all they want.

One time I walked by a squatter house and had a chance to peek into the living room of a family laughing as if that's the only thing they know since birth watching Senario on a humongous plasma TV. I need a tv like that but I don't think I can afford one, unless I go over to Aramco to work and get paid in US dollars. The poor in this country ain't poor. It's their insatiable desire to spend away their money the way a middle-class family do that's making them poorer and poorer. All this is made worse by their attitude towards not wanting to pick up new skills that can earn them money like restoring furnitures.

And those guys are going to hold a street protest after Friday prayer today? All that for 30 sen. Go home, fellas. Pick up a hobby, learn how to fix things.