Update: (5 June 2008) The ban on the sale of petrol to foreign cars has been lifted.
Petrol stations near bordertowns of Malaysia will be barred from selling fuel to foreign cars effective Friday as a measure to plug loopholes in the current fuel subsidy system. The ban will apply to all petrol stations located within 50km from country borders in states such as Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Johor.

The new ruling was told to reporters by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad on Monday. He also said that the move is a temporary measure until a better management of the fuel subsidy system is achieved. At present too many foreign cars from neighbouring countries have been crossing into Malaysia to take advantage of the lower fuel and diesel prices.

Foreign cars may still fill up at petrol stations outside the no-sale zone such as Penang or Malacca as they are then most likely to be in the country on tourism or other genuine reasons. Operators in the affected areas who depend heavily on foreign sales are unhappy over the ruling. Personally, I think this is the right move for now, as fuel subsidies are in place to benefit the rakyat of our country and it isn’t fair for foreign users to just come in and buy our discounted fuel for use in their own countries.