“Eh di Miri plang ada Starbucks sama Secret Recipe! “
“Adakah?”
“Mun flyover pun ada udah”
“Namanya bandaraya tantu ta jua”
“Baik tah u pegi Miri eh, berapa lama udah inda kesana ah”
A typical conversation that we encounter in our daily life, and I will try to conclude the conversation later.
I must admit that, I do not cross the border to that area as often as some people, and I was always tease because of that.
The last time I went to Miri was many years ago, hence just wanting to know what the fuss is about with the “new” Miri, we went there last December.
And this is what I can say from my observations.
The city itself has not really change that much since my last trip, and I think I did not miss anything during that year.
So, why do they have all of those franchise cafes and stuff? Don’t praise them, blame ourselves.
I just could not understand how some people would go there almost every other month or week and some do travel there every week, when in fact they are doing bad thing to our local economy by bringing the currency out of the country.
Waste of time, waste of money.
Imagine this, a typical scenario, for a family of four travelling from BSB to Miri.
Travelling time: BSB – Miri + long queue at the border + others = >3~4 Hours
and return duration = > 3~4 Hours
duration in Miri = > 2 hours
Hence one need to spend about a day just to go to Miri.
Cost
Bridge Toll: KB= BND6 return
Bridge Toll: Miri = RM20 Return
Petrol = BND25 on average for RON97 (depending on car)
Meal average for 4 persons = RM40 x 2 ( plus other snacks) = at least RM100
Money spent on groceries and other stuffs, at least RM400!
Just imagine every week how many thousand of us are travelling there, and how much money are flowing out of our country.
Just to make a rough calculation:
RM500 per family per trip
Number of family per week, say 4,500
Hence RM500 x 4,500 family = RM2.25 Million! and that is per week!
Per month = RM2.25 Million x 4
Per Year = RM2.25Million x 54 weeks =more than RM120Miilion or BND 50 Million!!
So now, whom to blame for their development? I won’t touch about the newly found “love” in KK yet, or now the “newly developed” car ferry to Labuan.
If only those money are spend locally, eventually, we can also have those fancy franchise diner or stores in Brunei.
And if you want to put it into reality, do your part, be a smart shopper.
In fact the prices in Brunei is quite reasonable, except during sales, I really hope somebody do check their prices, other than that, no complaint.
I Thank You All.
Peace.
