MALAYSIA'S exports grew a slower-than-expected 8.4 per cent in March, below the street's expectation of 9.4 per cent and way below February's performance of 12.3 per cent. One reason cited for this is that the water rationing exercise could have disrupted manufactured exports in Selangor and Negri Sembilan between February and April. That is a lot of money down the drain and, more to the point, quite inexplicable given that the country receives an average of 98 inches (249 cm) of rain a year.

Like everything that has demand, water is a resource - and should be treated as such. Selangor's water policy does not do this. By allowing Selangor residents to have their first 20 cubic metres of water free, it devalues the importance of a scarce and valuable resource.

Selangor would do well to emulate Penang. The state did not need rationing but only because Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng bit the bullet and raised water tariffs. At 311 litres per person per day, the state's consumption of water is the highest in the nation. The national average is 211 litres, which is bad enough. Such consumption, Mr Lim pointed out correctly, "is unsustainable and, left unchecked, Penang will have no choice but to resort to water rationing in the future".