First it shot up. Then, in a matter of weeks, it came down, almost as fast.

It has been a roller-coaster ride for petrol prices, which have been adjusted no fewer than 19 times in the past year.

The New Paper on Sunday sums up how this has impacted Singapore.

COMMUTERS

Those who take cabs have felt the heat from the 30-cent fuel surcharge from last month.

Mr Eric Ang, 23, a retail assistant who knocks off close to midnight everyday at his Orchard Road workplace, is cutting back on cab rides.

'I have no choice. Hopefully, diesel prices will drop and they'll do away with the surcharge. Then I might use taxis again.'

While diesel prices have dropped, it hasn't fallen far enough for cab companies like Comfort to cancel the surcharge

TAXI DRIVERS

Cabbies like Mr Lawrence Tok, 39, finds the surcharge 'fair' as he has to pay more for his diesel. He said he pumps diesel at his company pumps, where the prices have not dropped yet.

Another driver, Mr Teo Choon Huat, 37, added that the rise in diesel prices had cut his daily takings by $10 to $12. With the 30-cent surcharge, he gets to earn back $5.

CAR OWNERS

Some drivers, like Mrs Suhaila Musa, have to resort to making fewer trips in their family cars.

The 49-year-old owner of a maid agency said her husband used to pick up their daughters, 10 and 16, from school two to three times a week. Now, the girls have to take public buses home every day.

'Even though the petrol prices have dropped, it's still not enough for me to reconsider driving to pick up my kids.'

CAR BUYERS

Mr Desmond Lim, 32, director of dealership Car Instinct, said high petrol prices have caused a 40 per cent drop in his sales overall.

And customers are looking for smaller cars. Larger, petrol-guzzlers 'are simply not selling'.

HAWKERS

For Mrs Veronica Lee, 44, who sells noodles with her husband at a food centre in Tampines, prices of the raw material have doubled over the past year, partly because of oil prices.

'Even though oil prices have fallen, prices of foodstuff haven't. And I doubt prices will fall any time soon,' she said.

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