YOURSAY | Ride-hailing app Grab should stay, but they need competition.
I can resign today, Dr M says after cabbies stage walkout
Anonymous 7478653098613829: I am just amazed that the government is pandering to these taxi drivers and taxi companies.
We can see many taxis on the road but no reliable taxi system. Instead, it is so common to hear of horror stories of crude and rude taxi drivers, ramshackle taxis and over-charged fares.
Till today, we still cannot have a proper taxi ride using a fare meter. There is no enforcement at all by the authorities. Why are the authorities so afraid of the taxi drivers, even after a change of government?
Similarly, our bus system is also laughable. I have not seen proper bus stops built in cities and towns at regular intervals. Buses are stopping where and when there are passengers. Are there proper bus schedules being followed by bus companies?
If any visitor were to ask me how to take a bus to go around town or cities, I would not be able to tell the visitor what the bus companies, the bus routes, schedule and fares are. One needs to do things by trial and error to understand how the buses work in Malaysia. Needless to say, there are many buses on the roads that are in poor conditions.
It is really a godsend to have technology and entrepreneurship in the form of Grab to overcome the perennial problem of these public transports, which are such basic and essential public services.
The government has been so impotent in the face of threats from the taxi drivers. I can understand if the BN politicians were controlling these taxi and bus companies previously. But now, it is time to get rid of the parasites. No one owes the taxi drivers a living.
Quigonbond: The taxi drivers are manipulated by taxi companies that probably don’t even show up for the meeting, and don’t even know it. Seriously, what manners did their parents teach them to warrant walking out of a meeting with the PM, who could instead be at home, resting?
Grab should stay, but they need competition. If the taxi companies cannot compete, it looks like the field is open for another ride-hailing app competitor.
Anonymous_1527925538: Indeed, e-hailing is a global trend and set to stay. The sooner the taxi drivers understand that and prepare for it with whatever government help they can get, the better it is for them.
Walking out on our PM, who was just trying to help them, is most rude. Those people must apologise to our PM.
StrainingGnats, SwallowCamels: "Give me time to resolve this problem. It is not easy to ban (Grab) so as to eliminate competition. I've long sought a solution... I will try but I can't make promises...," said PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
PM, you can and should try. But the onus is so much greater on them to try. They are the ones who should try and try harder and longer until they succeed. It will not work if only the government tries to facilitate and they do little or nothing to improve themselves and compete.
Business as usual won't get them out of the hole. It will not work if they do not work. Not even the best solution can work if they do not work better to compete on a long-term basis. The world has changed and is still changing. But they have not changed.
Our taxi drivers are asking you and the government to do the impossible - to stop the world from changing and even to move the world back to before the days of e-hailing. No government, no matter how powerful, can accomplish that.
In fact, no one in his right mind would. The taxi drivers are in fact demanding that they not change and the world is not listening. Is it possible that they are demanding an entitlement based on race, as opposed to working hard to compete and earn their livelihood like everyone else in the rest of the world?
Vent: Mahathir is a phenomenon, like him or not. He is perhaps the best role model for the Malays today; a truly towering Malay. Disciplined with healthy life habits, faithful to his only wife, he is incredibly sharp putting foes to shame and awe-inspiring to his admirers and detractors alike.
But like all human beings, he isn’t infallible and he slipped with that ridiculous remark of his. He sounded like a petulant grandpa succumbing to a silly slight by a group of rogue taxi drivers (perhaps saboteurs, as claimed) showing all of his 93 years of age.
We expect better if you are an MP (it comes with the territory), especially since you are a seasoned one and a comeback PM hailed as our saviour. Stop being so sensitive.
Abasir: One way forward could be by comprehensively auditing the quality of the services in terms of responsiveness, cleanliness, politeness, speed, reliability and fares provided by these taxi drivers and their companies and comparing that to the one provided by Grab.
If there is a gap, then they could be given a deadline to fix their issues before making a final decision on whether to treat them as one or to disband the lot.
As with everything Malaysian, politicians, their proxies and the usual warlords pull the strings of these taxi wallahs and therefore the final decision will be as political as it is business regulatory.
One other thing which the Pakatan Harapan government may wish to consider is the setting up of a formal inquiry into the state of the taxi service industry, the money that flows through it, the politicians involved, licensing practices, the size of the market vis-a-vis the taxis on the road, the hiring and training practices, profiles of taxi drivers (the good, the bad and the ugly), the metering and meter fixing racket and the changing demographics of taxi drivers, which now show greater numbers of foreigners.
Malaysia's taxi problem has long been fished in by Umno politicians for their private gain and it has got from bad to worse by benign negligence and outright politicking. Transport Minister Anthony Loke and his colleagues from other relevant ministries must jointly scrutinise every aspect and publish their findings before taking action.
In the meantime, round up the taxi owners and ringleaders and give them a good talking, to like the late Lee Kuan Yew did before permanently sorting out his troublemakers and enhancing the service.
Anonymous #69337042: The whole lot of taxi drivers should learn from their counterparts in Singapore. The cab drivers there compete with Grab and they are fine.
The problem is the taxi drivers in Malaysia are not disciplined and they are forever seeking entitlement and easy life. They can throw their tantrums and shout obscenities and even stage a walkout in the face of the PM.
Anonymous: Mahathir is absolutely right. He can create a level playing field for all drivers, be it Grab or taxi. But he cannot eliminate competition by way of removing Grab. Drivers of Grab are also Malaysians and just like all taxi drivers, have to earn a living.
For too long, the taxi drivers in Malaysia have tarnished the industry, with many of those unscrupulous drivers taking advantage of the passengers. In short, the Malaysian taxi industry is well known for the very poor service.
If the taxi industry wants to survive the competition, the drivers had better clean up their act. In this era of a globalised world, every business is about competition. So to all taxi drivers: wake up and compete instead of protesting.
Sirach: The local taxi industry was in a sad state before the advent of ride-hailing services. Some abuses:
1. Many taxi drivers were an arrogant lot, who often waved customers away at their whim when they didn’t want to drive to particular destinations.
2. The industry was corrupt and mismanaged: licence-owners were rent-seekers who did next to nothing but creamed the income through rental at the expense of the drivers.
3. The cars were (and still are) for the most part in deplorable condition, often smelly and uncomfortable.
So, Mahathir, it’s all well and good to be sympathetic to the taxi drivers’ plight, but without a doubt, the general public is far better off for having a choice now between hailing a taxi or choosing a Grab ride instead.
And please note that the ride-hailing service is not necessarily cheaper to taxi, but its benefits far outweigh the additional cost.
One further point - I’ve lost count of the number of Uber/Grab drivers who are professionals - bankers, engineers and even doctors - who do it part-time to supplement income or in between jobs; and others, in more humble professions, who do it to make ends meet, for their young families mostly.
And it’s such a wonderful social leveller - Malaysians from all races have driven me in Uber or Grab, and my experience, without exception, has been delightful.
As in most difficult decisions you have to make, Mahathir, the common good must prevail over the interests of a handful. I know you will do what’s best. But to even suggest you will resign over this: surely you jest?
Anonymous_05cafebd: Mahathir, come on. Don’t be a prima donna, for you are made of far sterner stuff than this. You stared down the entire previous political machinery and it buckled, but now you get upset over a few crooked taxi drivers?
Vijay47: When Mahathir said he was more than willing to step down from the position of prime minister, I don't think he was responding to a gang of taxi drivers more renowned throughout the world for their thieving, bullying ways.
He was merely reminding everyone that his return to politics was a reluctant one, done only because Najib Razak and Umno were bringing all of us close to the abyss.
As events proved, Mahathir was the only one who could weld the nation and achieve the impossible. But caution is still crucial, the dark forces may be down, but they are far from out, nowhere close to the light.
This can readily be seen in the belligerence with which the taxi drivers approached the prime minister. And this from a group enjoying almost universal condemnation for their professional conduct.
One would have thought that when you come seeking alms, you would do so with a bit more respect and dignity. That is if you do not have any Umno blood in you.
Asokkumar: Don’t run away from your election manifesto, Mahathir. You are doing a great job by arresting and charging your former students.
Stop staging a resignation threat and begin to address the real issue. Umno under your stewardship screwed up the taxi industry. Now it is your responsibility to fix it.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
