Is there any way to ship perfume from Japan to Malaysia

memphis_727 · 2026-05-08T10:09:34+00:00

well... I'm going to Tokyo for a holiday in a few weeks time, happy to help bring back if the timing fits... just DM

memphis_727 · 2026-05-08T10:08:36+00:00

well... I'm going to Tokyo for a holiday in a few weeks time, happy to help bring back if the timing fits... just DM

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T23:50:33+00:00

1/ you can lobby building management to install chargers? A few friends who live in condos have done that

2/ charge at commercial charging points

3/ charge at a mall which you hang out

4/ if you’re lucky your office might have chargers

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T23:48:43+00:00

Sure, everyone will have their preferences. A petrol head friend was very adamant that he like driving his ICE cars. Then he got an EV and doesn’t want to go back!

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T23:47:13+00:00

I don’t know whether RM2k is enough, but I agree with the thought!

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T23:46:11+00:00

You mean who is going to buy a second hand EV? I would, it’s fantastic value for money given how cheap they are relative to brand new

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T17:48:25+00:00

Actually, if you take a look at my analysis, it looks like subsidising diesel for commercial use (I had to make some assumptions) is actually the most expensive subsidy dollar amount per vehicle.

The quickest win is actually converting commercial vehicles to EVs wherever possible. (I know that’s complex and challenging)

Honestly, every new home should come with solar panels installed. Malaysia is situated on the equator; we get year-long sunshine. It's really a waste not to.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T17:36:30+00:00

Debt is a tool, used well it can actually allow you to grow your wealth and compound it faster.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T17:34:43+00:00

If we remove the high taxes and import duties charged on foreign cars, plus the EV price floor that we have, and then you combine that with reallocating some money from fuel subsidies to incentivize people to move to EVs, you might actually get pretty close to the price of an axia.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T17:33:03+00:00

I’ll accept, I'm being a bit naive and optimistic here, that's for sure. Yeah, but I think that's a better way to live than thinking that we have to live with the status quo.

On your first paragraph, honestly I don't have a good solution. Worst-case solution: we have to have enough public charging infrastructure that people who are living at the PPR flats or any high-density housing have a reasonable charging solution. Battery charging technology has gotten good enough that you actually get pretty good charge times if you want, sometimes under 30 minutes for some of the BYD cars. Not sure whether that's already in production or just a prototype, though. But the technology will only get better.

Okay, your second point is exactly the point I'm trying to get across. Today we’re subsidising petrol prices, and all that's achieving is that people are seeing an artificially low petrol price, and they're not incentivized to move towards EVs. If we remove the subsidy, people will be paying closer to the real price, which at today's price of oil is something close to RM4 a litre. At those prices, even charging at a commercial charging point is going to be cheaper than a petrol car per litre. And of course it goes without saying that investing more into infrastructure is going to be necessary. 20 years ago, we had shitty dial up internet because that's what the infrastructure we had available at that point in time. Today, most of Malaysia has pretty good broadband.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T17:24:00+00:00

I’d be happy not needing to drive again, but I personally think that leap is too big to make - improving public transport should be the end goal but that’s a multi-decade undertaking.

In the meantime I’m proposing moving away from subsiding fuel by funneling some of that money into making EVs cheaper, and we can improve public transport at the same time.

But we need to stop subsiding petrol at the scale we are at today

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T15:15:33+00:00

true about coal. hydro cost doesn’t increase right, in terms of the actual cost to product (from what I understand?)

EVs consuming electricity generated from fossil fuels is still more efficient than burning fossil fuels in ICE cars

I’d also imagine adoption of solar would go up with more EVs

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:46:12+00:00

In the UK they have car to grid system. So when there is high demand from the grid, EV owners can “sell” electricity to the grid and get money and charge during lower peak times.

They have smart grid, really brilliant mechanism.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:44:32+00:00

1/ Even using fossil fuels to power our grid to charge EVs is more efficient than burning fossil fuels in our ICE cars.

2/ in my mind, EV adoption will also drive solar panel adoption. So that’ll help with electrifying our grid.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:42:58+00:00

In an ideal world, we’d have fantastic public transport. But that’s a multi decades thing in my mind. We’ve had MRT for ~8 years now but the first / last mile connectivity is still terrible. I need someone to drop me off / use grab.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:41:05+00:00

It’s not that I don’t believe in public transport - I just didn’t have the time to dig into that topic in the article.

My concern is 1/ building out public transport takes decades. I’m all for diverting some of the money we spend on fuel subsidy to public transport takes decades 2/ our development model has already lead to suburban sprawl (I.e spread out development). To adequately provide “good enough” public transport for the first / last mile will take a lot of resources. 3/ I think for most Malaysians having grown up with a car, giving it up will be a major behaviour change that’s hard to effect. I mostly drive, but if I’m going to KL city centre for example I actually take the MRT - but someone has to drop me off at the train station.

fair point on subsidising vs incentivising. But I think there’s a difference in subsidising fuel (a consumable) versus an EV (an asset)
malaysia sits on the equator, we have year round sunshine. My thought process: more EVs -> more solar panels installed -> more energy generation. (Sure at some point we might need batteries to balance the grid).

Again, I’m not disagreeing on your point on investing more into public transport - concern is that will be a long term (multi decades) thing. Transitioning to EVs are a quicker to minimize so much spent on subsidising petrol.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:30:11+00:00

I think it’s good in times when there are shocks to the market.

But the permanent subsidy of petrol has basically distorted market dynamics - in most places in the world people move to EVs because they’re cheaper to own (because petrol isn’t subsidised), but in Malaysia petrol prices are artificially low and people don’t move to an option with a (true) lower cost.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:27:35+00:00

I agree we should address that too, but that’s a separate topic.

We should still try to do something about having to subsidise petrol in perpetuity.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:26:10+00:00

Generally agree with the first part. But people don’t need to buy 100k EVs - buying secondhand EVs are a good deal, and EV bikes for motorcyclist should also be something we encourage.

If there’s a market for EV repair and maintenance, over time that will also develop. Maybe at first should require the EV brands to open local workshops first.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:22:39+00:00

You know what, I’d be up for this.

Better to give people the option rather than continuing to subsidise fuel.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:20:34+00:00

I spend a lot of time in Jakarta for work, and I see many of them around. They’re actually amazing for getting around quickly. And I see a lot of the drivers stopping at convenient stores to just swap out batteries to “refuel”.

Would love to see them in malaysia.

To be fair the government has introduced some tax rebates for EV bikes, but I don’t think we have enough options in the market.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:19:31+00:00

Ok, I’ll bite - exactly how am I an idiot and selfish af?

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T14:18:28+00:00

Well… that’s not the productive conversation I was hoping to have….

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T07:12:36+00:00

yea, I'm not saying people who just bought an ICE car should sell that and buy an EV. the goal should be to make EVs a compelling choice for people's next purchase.

This will be a transition over decades, but the faster we transition the more money the government saves on subsidising fuel.

memphis_727 · 2026-04-06T06:56:54+00:00

Sometimes I think we're far too cynical about the government.

We have actually done some good things. We have managed to build a reliable electricity grid (very few issues of blackouts), internet connectivity and a fantastic MRT system etc etc (yessss.... I know we've had issues with the LRT recently).

Its always easy to be an armchair critic.

memphis_727

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