Rumours have been circulating since late last night on Facebook and Twitter but there wasn’t any confirmation on any local news site. The current price for RON95 is still at RM1.80 and Diesel too remains unchanged.

I’m sticking to RON95 for now and I hope there won’t be any increase of price any time soon.

Click here for more information on petrol price in Malaysia.

In this contest, Shell rewards not one but two customers every week with a Grand Prize of RM20,000 each.  Lim Siam Huang from Kuala Lumpur and Ahmad Faiz Abd Muvin from Kajang were the first grand prize winners of the Contest, taking home RM20,000 each and a year’s supply of Shell Helix Ultra for the car maintenance of their vehicles.

As the grand prize winners from Week 1 of the Contest, these two winners are now one step closer to competing in the grand finale, vying for the final grand prize of RM100,000 at the end of the contest.

Apart from the two weekly grand prize winners, 500 customers were also rewarded with RM150 cash from Shell as consolation prize, bringing the total winners to 502 customers every week. The 20 weekly grand prize winners will be vying their way for the ultimate cash prize of RM100,000 and five years supply of Shell Helix Ultra at the end of the contest period. By the end of the Contest, Shell would have rewarded more than 5,000 Malaysians.

So, it really pays to be a smart consumer. I know I am, so let’s hope that I’m one of the winner from the next round.

First pair of weekly grand prize winners from “Shell Pays Your Utility Bills” Contest.
(L-R): Ahmad Faiz Abd Muvin from Kajang, Tuan Haji Azman Ismail, Managing Director, Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn. Bhd., Lim Siam Huang from Kuala Lumpur

(L-R): Ahmad Faiz Abd Muvin from Kajang, Jeffrey Maran, Senior Regional Retail Manager, Tuan Haji Azman Ismail, Managing Director, Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn. Bhd. and Lim Siam Huang from Kuala Lumpur

This is the case for a Priest from Kajang, when he became the first weekly grand prize winner, receiving a prize purse of RM20,000 in Shell’s latest cash contest – Pump and Stand to Win RM500,000 and Chanthiran a/l Velaiutham is very much a deserving winner.

Grinning from ear to ear, Chanthiran said, “This grand prize win of RM20,000, I believe, is indeed because of God’s grace. As a priest, my responsibilities lie with the underprivileged community in the area. Finding funds to feed and clothe them is a constant challenge I face. With the win of RM20,000, together with my church parishioners will be able to do a lot of good for the community. On the recipients of this windfall, I will as my church members to decide to who and how they want to spend the money.”

By the end of this campaign, which started from 7 September until 15 November 2011, Shell will be giving away cash prizes to a total of 10,060 winners. Each week, RM20,000 will be awarded to one lucky grand prize winner; RM2,000 to five lucky winners and RM100 consolation prize to 1000 customers. At the end of the 10-week Contest, all weekly grand prize winners will have the opportunity to win up to RM500,000!

I was invited to the celebration event hosted by Encik Azman Ismail, Managing Director of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd and witnessed by Encik  Fahrin Ahmad, Shell FuelSave 95 Ambassador. During the event, we were treated to performance by the 1 Malaysia Drum Symphony, games and a hearty buffet lunch.

With every purchase of RM30 or more Shell FuelSave 95, Shell V-Power Racing, Shell V-Power 97, Shell Diesel or Shell Diesel with B5, you’re entitled to a contest form which is available at all Shell station across the country.

Moses Chan made a special appearance at Shell FuelSave Roadshow at Berjaya Time Square last Friday and I had the opportunity to meet and have dinner with him.

The Shell FuelSave Roadshow was filled with fun activities which saw six lucky winners, and their partners were treated to a sumptuous dinner with Moses Chan himself. During the roadshow, Moses signed autographs for his fans and took the opportunity to tell his fans about the benefit of using Shell FuelSave 95, his experience as the Ambassador for Hong Kong as well as how motorists can practise the Shell FuelSave tips.

At the dinner table, we got to know Moses better. We asked Moses all sorts of questions and found out that Moses loves to visit Malaysia and he loves Malaysian food a lot, especially Durians. When asked about his love life and his new venture into the coffee business, he talked briefly about it and shies away from it. I was rather curious about the car he’s driving and got to know that he loves driving his Mazda MX5 back home in Hong Kong. He also shared his experience on he got more mileage after using Shell FuelSave 95, not just as a Shell Ambassador but as a car owner.

Dinner was great and the night ended with a group photo with all the winners, invited guests and media.  I managed to grab a photo opportunity with Moses Chan himself too.

For those who don’t know, Moses Chan Ho is also a TVB superstar and adored by many Malaysian fans. He’s fondly known as ‘Tak Tak Tey’ and many other nicknames adopted from his TV show characters. In real life, Moses is a very soft-spoken guy with a great sense of humour.

I thank Shell Malaysia for the ‘up-close and personal’ opportunity and congratulate them on a job well done on the event.

*Group photo courtesy of PlacesAndFoods.com

Over the weekend, I attended the 2011 Shell FuelSave Challenge which took place in Penang. It was the last round of North, Central and South region challenge and the winners from these regions will proceed to the 2011 Shell FuelSave Challenge Grand Finals in October where they will  stand a chance to win the RM50,000 in prize money.

What amazed me was not the prize money but the results from the challenge. Five participants battled out to get the most from their Shell FuelSave 95 filled vehicles. The Shell FuelSave Challenge, which simulates real city driving conditions, aims to demonstrate just how far Malaysian motorists can go with Shell FuelSave 95. The Shell FuelSave 95 is formulated to help motorists save up to one litre of fuel per tank.

The 5 participants had their car filled up with Shell FuelSave 95 to the fullest and then embarked on a 116 km trip from the Jalan Jelawat Shell Station in Penang to Gurun and then back to the station. Each participant are being accompanied by a Marshall during the journey to guide and give them practical driving tips to go the distance and burn less fuel.

The results were amazing. The participants clocked an average of 20 km per litre! The winner goes to Ms Deborah Tan Ai Jern, a petite 25-year-old who clocked 21.3 km per litre! She took home the RM3,000 prize money as the Penang State Winner and she will now join the other two winners, Mr Tan Moh Chuan (Johor) and Mr Lee Chee Kook (Selangor) in the Shell FuelSave Grand Finals.

Now, one may ask how to achieve such great mileage with a litre of fuel?

Local celebrity Fahrin Ahmad, also a Shell FuelSave Ambassador gave us a few pointers on how good driving habits can help save money and get that extra mileage.

I got the chance to meet Ms Christine Liew, Head of Retail Marketing (Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei) of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd. During her speech at the prize giving ceremony, she said, “At Shell, we believe that the long term benefits of Shell FuelSave Challenge go beyond our winners.” I agree with her as I myself have experience great fuel efficiency and performance from Shell FuelSave 95 and I’ve been sharing it with all my friends and family. With Shell FuelSave 95, I’m getting 9 km per litre as compared to less than 7.5 km on others. This is indeed great savings for me as I save more with every litre of petrol poured into my tank.

The event ended with lunch being served to guests and participants. I had to excuse myself since I’ve already have prior lunch appointment with my family.

It was a great initiative by Shell to advocate good driving habits and fuel efficiency amongst Malaysia motorists. Even though it was a hot sunny day, I totally enjoyed the event as it taught me a few more things that I as a motorist tends to take for granted, good driving habits.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who is the winner. With the right fuel and proper driving habits, we can all be winners!

Don’t take my words for it. Go give it a try yourself and you will feel the difference.

Now if you really wanna know how you too can save more with Shell FuelSave 95,  here’s some Shell FuelSave Tips for you:

1. Fuel matters
   Fuel economy in the engine through a combination of good driving habits and using the right fuel. When combined with the Shell FuelSave Tips, Shell fuels with Fuel Economy formula can help you reduce fuel consumption and fuel costs by helping you get the most out of every drop of fuel.
2. Drive smoothly
   If you drive aggressively, you’ll burn up to a third more fuel than if you drive smoothly. Avoid accelerating or braking too hard and try to keep your steering as even as possible.
3. Use higher gears
   When you drive slowly in a higher gear, you’ll burn less fuel. Change up a gear whenever you can.
4. Keep the windows closed
   Wind blowing through an open window slows you down. To compensate, you’ll put your foot down harder, using more fuel. So instead of opening a window, try and use your car’s internal ventilation system instead of the air conditioning.
5. Use cruise control
   Change up whenever you can. Using cruise control on major roads helps you maintain a constant speed and help you make all those drops count.
6. Avoid excess idling
   Stuck in a jam? Idling gets you nowhere, but still burns fuel.  Turn the engine off when you’re in a queue until you need it. As a rule, if you’ve stopped for over 10 seconds, switch off your engine.
7. Avoid over-revving
   Change gear in good time when you pull away or when you’re accelerating.  Never ‘redline’ the rev counter.
8. Avoid high speeds
   The faster you go, the more wind resistance you’ll encounter and the more fuel your vehicle will consume just to maintain speed. Driving just 5mph (12kmph) over the speed limit can affect fuel economy. So keep it slow.
9. Avoid rush hour
   We all know that driving in rush hour can be stressful and unpleasant experience, but it can waste fuel too. Try to arrange car journeys outside of peak travel times, so you’ll spend less time in traffic and use less fuel as a result.
10. Driving over hilly terrain
    Instead of coasting when you reach a download slope, maintain steady engine revs. This will help you to maintain a constant speed rather than picking up speed and it likely to have a positive effect