Petrol Stations in Cameron Highlands - More needed

You can only get petrol from two towns - Ringlet and Brinchang. If I recall correctly, you can find Shell station in Ringlet and Brinchang and Petronas in Brinchang. I don't ever recall any petrol stations was ever set up in Tanah Rata since long time ago, so I suppose this DAP deputy chairman must have recalled it from his earlier days. Anyway, Cameron Highlands is not a big place and may not be economically viable for more petrol stations, yet on the other hand on peak periods, you do need to queue up for your turn at the pump especially Shell which is more popular than Petronas. Anyway, will see how this work out...

DAP man calls for more petrol stations in Cameron Highlands
Monday January 23, 2012
Compiled by Beh Yuen Hui, Joseph Kaos Jr, A.Raman

PAHANG DAP deputy chairman J. Simmathri has called for more petrol stations to be set up in Cameron Highlands, reported Makkal Osai.

He said more stations were needed because many motorists had difficulty getting fuel at the popular tourist site.

"There is no petrol station in Camerons, while two petrol stations in Tanah Rata have been converted into parking and business areas," he added.

Simmathri said the Government should consider giving approval for petrol stations in Blue Valley and Tanah Rata, which would not only benefit the locals, but also tourists who come in the thousands to the area. -- The Star News

More expensive vegetables due to poor weather

Whenever it rains too much, we get vegetable shortage as the harvest from the farmers reduced. And that means price increase. No choice but to pay for it, we still need to eat. When it comes to food prices, not just vegetables, but a wide variety of food items has been increasing price for the past many years due to many factors not just due to poor harvest from bad weather, but also from transportation affected by soaring petroleum which affect fuel for transportation, which in turns affect cost of living and you know, the cycle continues. The problem is when the increase of cost far outstrip the income earned, it means we are getting poorer everyday due to shrinking value of money. That's inflation, when price goes up, it seldom comes down, but our wages hardly ever goes up...

Having the blues over greens
Monday January 16, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese New Year, a time to usher in prosperity and good fortune, will be a costly affair this year.

The reunion dinner, considered one of the main events, will be more expensive with vegetable prices continuing to soar due to the smaller harvest.

It is especially bad this time because heavy rains in Cameron Highlands have caused the supply of greens to drop.

The problem has been compounded with China, India and Thailand – on which Malaysia depends a lot for the import of vegetables – exporting less as they too are facing bad weather conditions.

Remaining unperturbed: Despite the price hike,
consumers are still willing to splurge on the greens.

Local vegetable growers are lamenting that production has hit an all-time low this season, with many saying output had dropped by 40%.