A heavy toll on miscommunication
Malaysians don’t like to pay more for anything, and regardless if it is right or wrong, would go for the cheapest route. As an example, the case of the pirated movies we buy from our friendly neighbourhood salesmen. So when the rates for tolls on certain highways are raised, we scream bloody murder. It’s good political capital.
However, drowned out in the noise is why we are protesting. If it is for the government to continue subsidising Malaysians to use tolled roads at a cheaper cost, then I don’t get what the protest is about. One one hand, Malaysians feel that subsidies seem to be bad, and that Malaysians should stop rent-seeking activities and be less reliant on welfare, but on the other hand when fuel subsidies are reduced, and toll rates go up, we feel it’s unfair.
However, if the message is that there is some mismanagement in terms of how the charges for toll is calculated, and the corporations are fleecing Malaysians for unfair profitability, then by all means, protest. But, please, protest at the offices of the toll operators, and not cause a bloody congestion at a shopping mall.
The chaps who allegedly profit unreasonably from this toll rise don’t seem to be to harshly inconvenienced by the protests. It was the management and visitors of the mall who had to put up with the mess, and how did they profit from the toll increase, per se?