Each time the government announces an upward revision of fuel prices, hot on its heels are the price increases in “teh tarik” at 10 to 20 sen more a cup.

And along with it is the argument that cooking gas has gone up; sugar has gone up; cooking oil has gone up; and so on and so forth.

One wonders how on earth these traders and businessmen manage to revise their prices almost overnight all in the name of keeping profits intact if not doubled.

And now that the government has finally decided to float the fuel cost along with global pricing, it has become even more puzzling why traders and businessmen are unable to reduce the prices of their goods and services.

While the cost of fuel at our pumps is reduced, we instead get petrol pump operators telling us that they may have to close shop because of the lower pricing of fuel.

Mind you, when prices were increased every now and then these past decades, these same operators were only too happy to revise their pump prices not to mention capitalise on the huge spare inventories they would have craftily reserved in time with the rumoured price increase.

Likewise, our 24-hour eateries that are insisting that the cost of teh tarik and air suam cannot go down even by one sen.

Anyone who has been to Thailand, Myanmar, or even India for that matter will tell you that their traders dutifully revise their product prices with the price of fuel for the day or week.

There is no need for enforcement in these nations. Traders allow their ethical bearings to dictate. They take it in their stride as part of their duty to nation-building and service to its citizenry.