Gas price has always been a big concern in the US. Here's the current price i am paying, i shall take another photo when it hits $5/gallon:

I rarely heard anyone in malaysia complains about gas price until the recent 2.70/liter hike. Now everybody back home is whining. Considering the average salary one earns in Malaysia, the price increase does impact a lot. The worse thing is that everyone in Malaysia drives, regardless rich or poor. It's like a malaysian thing or you can blame it on the poor mass transportation system, on top of the crazy hot weather. My taiwanese colleague told me that he never thought of owning a car when he was in taiwan, he just didn't see the need. After conversion (1 gallon ~3.8 liters), gas price in the US doesn't look too expensive, in fact much cheaper if comparing a dollar for a RM. With the always increasing housing/car price in malaysia, I can see how difficult a life for an average engineer who needs to support the family, paying off car loan, house loan, kids education etc. Life was much more affordable for my generation that most of our mothers are housewife, and having 3~4 kids in one household is extremely common. I bet the trend has changed now that most young mothers are working as breadwinners too, and most families have at most 2 kids, yet life is still hard. With all these in thought, I should be grateful for what i have now. Hopefully economy in Malaysia will be much better by the time I go back.