About the Recent Gas Price Hike

In conjunction with the record-breaking hike of the World's Oil price, last Saturday, inevitably, the price of government-subsidized Gas price has also raised. I personally, don't really care as it doesn't affected me directly because the last time i filled my motor with the government-subsidized Gas was roughly three years ago.

A friend used to asked me of what the reasonings behind my stand to chose the Pertamax line which at the time, twice the price of the government-subsidized Gas. From the look of his eyes, i know that he had expected some kind of a smart-ass answers such as engine-friendly, environment-friendly, blah-blah-blah or the more pretentious one such as "how us, a considerably better paid salary-man than most of other Indonesian's citizen doesn't deserved any subsidization". I'm too simple a man to stretch my thought that far away. I switched to Pertamax simply for one reason and one reason only. I hate queueing. And if you rode a motorcycle in Jakarta you'll know that every time you pulled off at the gas station, you'll see a considerable amount of motorcycles lining up at Premium gas station where au contrarie, almost none at Pertamax gas station. This lining up usually involves a grunt, an unfriendly look from other lining up behind you, and the stench of impatience. I decided right away that i won't be queueing again. So, after a quick research on the net, and comfirmed that the machine of my motor could soak up the octane-level satisfied with Pertamax, i switched immediately, and never look back. Therefore, 6000 rupiahs per liter? Pfftt.. small change compared to 8900 rupiahs per liter i've been used to pay for my Gas.

What irked me the most was that i could seen some shed of truth to the proposed fact that the fuel subsidization was more often than not, enjoyed by the riches and the haves. They bought a considerably luxurious cars, AND fixed it so it could soaked up the cheaper Gas (the government-subsidized Gas). Shame. I'm not implying that i was better than these guys, but hey, at least i'm true to myself and i don't mind paying more for a small comfort albeit infinitesimal it might have been and not waiting for a right moment to jump the wagon, so to speak.