00:02These tuk-tuks are waiting to pump gas in Phnom Penh.
00:06With the war in the Middle East cutting off oil supplies, prices are way up.
00:10And these drivers, who carry passengers for a living, are feeling the pain.
00:17Gas prices have greatly impacted my daily earnings.
00:20Customers pay me the same price via the Grab app, and there are fewer people, too, since gas prices increased.
00:25I used to save and give my wife about $12.50 US before the war, but nowadays, I hardly save
00:31much.
00:33For now at least, there is gas to go around.
00:36That's not guaranteed for long, though.
00:38One local supplier is stopping sales on April 1st.
00:41The Cambodian government is doing what it can, encouraging measures like replacing in-person meetings with virtual ones.
00:48But Cambodia, like many countries in East Asia, is having to adapt to a crisis that's grown from weeks
00:54to nearly a whole month now.
00:59In Japan, with its vast stockpiles beginning in the 1970s, government help is on the way.
01:05Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae says Tokyo will begin its biggest ever release of oil reserves on Thursday.
01:12That's on top of help the government rolled out last week.
01:18From March 19th, we began providing subsidies to curb the prices of petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and
01:27heavy oil.
01:27Through these measures, we will respond with full effort to minimize the economic impact.
01:34South Korea is going further, launching an energy-saving campaign for the whole country.
01:39It's encouraging people to cut back on how long they take showers and shift when they do laundry and charge
01:45their phones.
01:50Implementing a five-day rotation of driving restrictions for passenger cars could substantially reduce the demand for gas
01:58and be an effective short-term response to the energy crisis.
02:05In the Philippines, though, the oil shock has already reached crisis proportions.
02:09As of Tuesday, there was around 45 days' fuel supply.
02:13The government has declared a year-long national emergency,
02:17with a committee making sure fuel, food, medicine, and other essentials can get where they need to go.
02:23This oil shock is bringing change to Asia, and not all of it from the top down.
02:28In China, some drivers are deciding now is the time to make the switch to electric vehicles.
02:45Across East Asia, a far-off war is hitting home,
02:49shifting how people get around,
02:51changes that could leave a lasting mark even after peace returns.
02:56Fu Hua Hong and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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