So Pos Malaysia has revised its postal rates by 100% from 1st July 2010 onwards. They claim their postal usage has been declining and of course they have not revised their rates for the past 18 years. They needed to adjust their rates so that they can revise their pay to the postal workers to match with the civil servants pay and of course to boost the profitability back to previous years.
That’s the problem in Malaysia when it comes to public service. They should factor in the inflation and revise their rates if not yearly than at least bi-yearly or tri-yearly. That way the adjustment is not so hefty like a 100% jump up from the usual 30 cents for standard letters to a 60 cents postal rate.
Tariff for weight = X grams | ||||
Min. Weight (grams) | Max. Weight (grams) | Rates (RM) | ||
Standard Mail (RM) | Non-Standard Mail (RM) | Periodical (RM) | ||
Above 0 | To 20 | 0.60 | 0.80 | 0.50 |
Above 20 | To 50 | 0.70 | 0.80 | 0.60 |
Above 50 | To 100 | – | 0.90 | 0.80 |
Above 100 | To 250 | – | 1.00 | 0.90 |
Above 250 | To 500 | – | 2.00 | – |
Above 500 | To 1000 | – | 3.50 | – |
Above 1000 | To 2000 | – | 5.50 | – |
This brings to mind my holiday to UK many years ago, due to work or other factors, my wife and I have to postpone our holiday trip to London by one year. In that one year difference, the train fares was already adjusted to reflect the inflation situation. Just a minor increase of about 10 pence or something. To us Malaysian that’s quite jump because of the exchange rate which at that time was a 7 to 1 ratio.
Anyway, if the government “official” CPI inflation rate is anything to go by at about 3% to 5%, then the postal service should adjust their rates accordingly. Perhaps 5 cents increase every two years or three years.
Just like the bus service in Malaysia, same old situation, there will be a hefty jump in bus fares every 8 years to 10 years then the public users will be up in arms about the big increase in the fares.
Just goes to show the poor public planning of this country. Anyway, I got the latest rates from Pos Malaysia and the jump is mainly for the lower grammage letters, periodicals and packages which is where the bulk of the postal letters. So now you can gauge the amount of stamps required to post your letter by snail mail. Well not everything can be done electronically, you know!
Related post:
EMS Poslaju Malaysia Contacts
Never use EMS Poslaju for incoming package
Pos Malaysia Postal Rates from July 2010