After Effects of Striking

Day before Y'day, I achieved a small victory. After using my street smarts.. or whatever you call it, when I managed to locate a shorter queue on "Inner Flower Road" opposed to the longer one on "Flower Road". 10-15 cars vs. 40-50 cars. After deciding to stick it out for a good one and half hours (with the short queue) I was finally treated to a Tank Full, or I thought... to every one's horror, they ran out of juice. I was the luckiest, as my meter showed an almost full reading, as for the guy behind me and the other frustrated lot had to go home, busting more than they had, having to start/stop the engine each time a car moves fwd.

Today, how many freaking days after this blooming episode it's still the same in most sheds I pass. You'll see all sorts from wives of 3-wheeler drives sticking it out with their cans, to Bus Drivers, it's freaking crazy. But you wont see a Politico's vehicle in the queue. Wonder why?

Why? Why? Why is this Country soo Chaar-Max!! I mean how many lively hoods have been disturbed by this. Although many think it's just a mere inconvenience, I'm sure there is an economic loss, although uncalculated and intangible. Is there an end to it? I don't know. With a simple strike for 2 days, those guys managed to create soo much of uncertainty that, the average Joe, who'd be satisfied with pumping 1000 bucks worth of juice wants "full tank" now. Why? Because of the Panic Buying. Is it likely to stop? Not, when there is a rumor that the Prices are gonna go up as well. This is all adding Fuel to the Fire... Did I say Fuel?

Now lets look at the Ports Authority. Is it functioning properly. This comment was made by Mr. Evil him self:

You know.. the port lost so much cash on this crap issue. And now there is an additional charge on every single container and they are calling it "Port Congestion Fees" So still the customers pay thru theyr noses for this loss.. after all the losses they incurred as well. Pretty pathetic managment. Sad noone's talking about the after effects and how they are going to get out of a mess. Problems and solutions for individual needs. But nothing for the case of development. I somehow get the feeling that this country is all out to go back a step or 2 in development just to earn a quick buck.. I mean those days long long time ago.. companies had to pay 5 bucks per container as an "Incentive" (If you know what i mean) to the crane operators. Thank god they got that off.. You should check out the efficiency of the port in singapore.. by the time we've loaded 5 containers they've loaded about 12 or so..

Who's to blame?

I am not going to side with any party, I think both are to be blamed. The union leaders, if you want your msg to be heard, find some other means that doesn't bring the whole country to a halt. Strike during your lunch hour or something. Think twice about your demands. Don't aim for the sky, although the common practice is that, it puts the other party off.. specially when your aiming for the freaking moon.

Politico's, you guys are shameless too. You have contacts, within all these unions, you know when something Big is going down. So don't sit on your lazy asses, do something about it. I don't mean to make the Union Leaders disappear.. but start negotiations before they strike. And stop trying to look good on freaking TV. We aint Chinese, and our hair aint in a freaking plat. (My apologies to the Chincs.. that wasn't targeted at you.. the guys know the colloquial term I was referring to.) So don't say "We're not gonna give them a Cent", when you actually end up giving them 1500/= as a monthly reward of some sorts. Just cut the crap!

Another reason I see is that the freaking Political Structure is ridiculous. There is a Transport Minister, and a Minister in charge of Trade Unions, stepping over each other. Both of em make contradicting statements, and who is responsible for them? Who do they report to? This needs to be sorted out. A proper structure needs to be formed, where people are given authority, and also have to accept responsibility for their actions and words. All this because "MR" has to create posts to give all those cross overs, and to satisfy the left out'ers of his own party.

Can the general public (us) do anything abt this? I don't know. Maybe not panic, but when your Tank is hitting low, you cant sit at home, like the politico's who get their Juice delivered home.

To let you know how serious the situ was, the Defense Ministry has admitted, that if the Strike went on for another day, their troop movements would have been hindered. Gives you a clue how prepared our mates in the Defense are.

* Cartoon courtesy of Today's Lakbima.