The standard mail (up to 20g) tariff has shot up from 30 sen to 60 sen while the rate for letters weighing up to 50g soars from 40 sen to 70 sen.

A 100 percent increase is a huge amount considering Pos Malaysia, for all intents and purposes, is a government-linked company (GLC).

The substantial shareholders of Pos Malaysia as at 15 March 2010 are:

1. Khazanah Nasional Berhad 32.21%

2. Employees Provident Fund Board 9.59%

3. Permodalan Nasional Berhad 8.45%

4. Amanahraya Trustees Berhad Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera 8.18%

The government should be thinking about the hardships that it would cause to its people with the new heavy postal fees.
 
It cannot be argued that Pos Malaysia is not making money.

For the year ended Dec 31, 2009, Pos Malaysia posted a profit before tax of RM109 million up from a loss before tax of RM0.5 million the previous year.

Its profit from operating activities in 2009 was RM82 million (on the back of turnover of RM902 million), only slightly down from its operating profit of RM86 million the previous year (turnover RM922 million).

Furthermore, the hike is only justified if proper and efficient service is given. But this is not the case.

All my neighbour's confidential mail enters my post box. My mail goes missing, too, and this has caused me difficulty. I have missed credit card payments and had to pay penalty fees as well as fines.

When I had my wedding, of the 300 cards I posted, about 10 percent went missing, causing me a lot of embarrassment and a lot of “uninvited” guests who felt offended. Till today, some of the so called uninvited guests don't even speak to me as they feel offended.

I have lived in other countries before and, mind you, I have not lost my mail nor have other people's mail come into my postbox.

This story of mine is not new. Every person in Malaysia has faced these or similar problems.

How can Pos Malaysia raise their rates when do don't even deliver the most basic of services properly, which is delivering the mail safely?

For the above reasons, I cannot understand the hike.