The weak ringgit has reduced our spending power both locally and overseas

AFTER three weeks driving around England and Spain, I got home on Monday. I am still suffering from jet lag, which explains why I am wide awake and writing this column in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

The last time I went to England and Europe was almost 10 years ago.

Quite a few things have changed and will change, especially with the UK vote to leave the European Union which it joined 40-odd years ago.

The funny thing is that almost everyone I spoke to voted to remain and the move to start the exit negotiations is now mired in legal challenges.

In the meantime, the financial markets and foreign exchanges are spooked with the pound sterling losing its value.

What I don’t understand is why our ringgit seems to drop faster than the pound, even though we are not exiting anything.

Our political leaders keep on harping that the depreciation is temporary and we have strong economic fundamentals.

Maybe, but our ringgit has dropped against most currencies including member states in Asean.

I hope someone can explain to me why our ringgit is valued at only one-third of the Singapore dollar and hit RM4.5 to the US dollar.

Our imports are going to cost more and things will get more expensive.

The lower and middle class is really struggling to survive. I would even venture to say that the cost of living is going through the roof.

Malaysians cannot afford a lot of things, putting a damper on domestic demand.

Just look at our shopping centres in Kuching. Most experience lower sales even though it is about a week to Christmas.

Low wages must be one of the reasons and the weak ringgit is making matters worse.

Actually, the cost of living is more affordable in London than in Kuching, seriously.

Let me give some examples. I bought a replacement brake lamp for my car. Did I mention that my dear wife broke my brake lights when she reversed into, of all things, our dustbin at home.

The workshop in Kuching quoted RM1,359 before adding GST. It cost me just £98.09 in London, about RM563.

Dinner for seven at a Chinese restaurant in central London (one of the most expensive cities in the world) cost £113.50 (RM635). A similar meal in Kuching will be easily RM300.

Petrol is £1.09 a litre, here RM2.15. Our political leaders will loudly exclaim that it is cheaper here because £1.09 is RM6.21. Hello, please pay me my salary in British pounds then.

The minimum wage in London is £7.50 an hour, in Kuching just RM4.42.

A lunch of beef ribs cost £10.50, here easily RM39.90. Again, don’t convert the currency because a UK resident earns pounds and pays only £10.50.

Here we earn ringgit and have to pay RM39.90.

It is the same in Spain. Petrol is 1.12 euro per litre. A three-star hotel apartment costs 65 euro, here easily RM200.

A hotel receptionist is paid an average of 1,350 euro a month. Here they are paid a minimum wage of RM900.

We saved money by buying food at a supermarket and doing our own cooking.

A precooked whole chicken was 3.50 euro. I needed just 12 to 15 euro to buy enough food for dinner and breakfast for three persons.

So if you are a Spaniard earning an average monthly wage of 2,825 euro, you are much better off than a Malaysian earning an average wage of RM2,312.

I can go on and on but it is clear that the average Spaniard is better off than the average Malaysian.

I almost wanted to join the millions of Syrian refugees escaping into Europe.

But I am Malaysian, and I have to return and try to contribute to making things better (hence this column).

This is not the end of my woes. Flying is not much fun these days, especially on low-cost airlines and very tight security at airports.

One infamous rule is that passengers must place liquids, emulsions (or any material that can be made into an explosive device) in a clear plastic bag.

In London’s Heathrow airport, there are signs everywhere and even two officers to hand out the plastic bags and remind passengers of the rule.

My wife’s bag set off the Christmas bells of the scanning machine, so it had to be opened and physically inspected. She had to wait her turn for - you guessed it - eight other ladies! The security officer was obviously quite annoyed that they didn’t follow a very basic instruction. That meant an hour’s wait.

In the Kuala Lumpur-Kuching flight, I could not find a space for my bag in the overhead compartment.

The stewardess tried to make room by moving another bag to the next compartment. A lady shouted, “You cant do that, I want all my three bags to be together.”

I was like, why do you have three bags when the rule says only one?