What goes up must come down?

Sun 260709

What goes up must come down? Do you honestly believe that? IMHO that only applies to physical items eg a ball...haha!

In our lives, that saying does not hold water! Why?

In Malaysia recently, we have been facing spiralling costs of living a life here...a never-ending problem, with more to come... to be sure!

For starters, during this year itself, we have been faced with the Govt's approval for increase in bus fares, both commercial & school buses...up to a max of 30%!! Imagine the huge increase should a parent have a number of school-going children...

Then there was the menacing threat of an increase in electrical tariffs...which the Govt has so "wisely" deferred in the wake of the increased bus fares...according to news reports...to the end of the year! There is no doubt in peoples' minds that there will be an increase. Just a matter of when...

Another impending increase is in the price of petrol. The govt plans to increase the price of RON97 grade of petrol (to RM2/litre) by introducing RON95 which it says can be used by most vehicles. However, it is clearly stated in the flap of my ole junk's petrol filler that the petrol for my Proton should be RON97+ (plus!!). So am I to understand that my ole junk can move around happily on RON95? Or do I have to pay more for the RON97 come September 1st?

Impending increases are on the table for Toll Rates when we use our highways ...soon. When? Your guess is as good as mine.

And yesterday, I got a letter from Astro, our local satellite tv provider, informing me that the Sports Package (that I've been subscribing to & which had an increase in subscriptions to it last year) will face a further increase of RM17 per month in my next billing!!

The worst part is that me, as a subscriber, is NOT given an option (not asked at all) if I consent to continuing my subs at the higher increased rate or not. The letter just states...

" ...a revision of the Astro sports package price is unavoidable.
The new price will take effect from your next bill statement. "

And that...

" For your convenience there is no action required on your part. We will update your account automatically and the new pricing will be reflected in your next monthly statement."

Now, is that the way to treat your loyal customers? To me, this is a "forced" upon me situation...there being no allowance for any period of decision on my part to consider if I should accept the new pricing or reject it!

Do you think it's worth an extra RM17 per month to continue subscribing to a channel that I use to watch only ONE event, namely the F1GP series? At times it might be only 1 race per month or at the most 2 races? In total, I would be paying a sum of RM27 extra (incl the increase last year) for just that! Nope. I don't think so.

And...also not to forget that each time you make a change in your subscribed packages, a service fee of RM10 will be charged!! That fee is only waived if you UPgrade ie pay higher for extra packages.

Anyway, despite that RM10 service charge (I only stand to lose RM10 once instead of the RM17 for each & every month I continue to subscribe to it), I have decided to cancel my subs to this package. However, I will only do so tomorrow. Why? Since the new rates might be already included in my next bill, I might as well enjoy one more race LIVE at the F1GP to be held today @Hungary! My monthly billing is for period ending 4th August...

Frankly Astro has been increasing its subs to cut down its "losses" as reported in the media...at the expense of its subscribers, not forgetting the numerous & inexcusable rounds of repeats that we are being subjected to daily in almost every channel! If only we have another reasonably good alternative...then many present Astro subscribers would, without any hesitation, migrate over! Wanna bet?

Well, what do you think would be increased next? Does what that goes up come down?

Nope...not really...not in things that matter most in our material lives. Nothing comes cheap these days. Agreed?

So Best of Luck to you & me...in the ever-rising scale of things in Life...