It was interesting to read in The Star today about the plight of taxi drivers in the city.....
It brings to mind an interesting discourse I had last year with a like minded cabbie in Penang.....
Travelling for business throughout Malaysia, I like spending some time chatting with cabbies on the way to and from various destinations – it surprised me particularly in Penang that taxi fares were ridiculously high. One had to pay RM10 – RM15 for a short journey of less than 1.5 km in many instances.
I hence enquired with the cabbie driver remarking that fares in Penang seemed higher than fares in other parts of the country. I was then treated to a long discourse by the cabbie on why this was the case. I was informed that taxi licenses are not granted to individual taxi drivers in Penang (and also throughout the country) . Rather, these licenses to operate commercial taxi vehicles are often granted to political cronies and connected parties allowing them to operate a fleet of taxies and dictating the terms and conditions for hire of such vehicles including, rental charges, maintenance charges and ownership of the vehicle in due course. The ultimate license holder enjoyed the benefits of control over the prices , up front monies and generally got a pretty good deal through the whole “arrangement”.
It seemed to me that the ones getting the short end of the stick were the cabbies themselves. Having to pay exorbitant rentals and with escalating fuels costs at that time, it was certainly difficult making ends meet. Any attempts by the cabbies to protest the unfair arrangements, were met with such replies as “if you don’t like it, don’t drive a cab” or were issued veiled threats not to renew the license for a particular taxi. I asked the cabbie if he had attempted to form a union to defend the rights of the cabbies or even to bring this to the attention of the Minister in charge – apparently, this cabbie had made such attempts even sending letters in writing to the policiticans handling that particular portfolio but it looked as though these attempts to raise this issue were merely sidelined or tossed onto the back burner. He looked thoroughly exhausted and defeated when telling me this as though all hope was lost.
Of particular irony when I read the papers today the comment from the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board and STAR reporters regarding the “Decade old fare structure” being the real problem. “After extensive studies, we have submitted a paper to the cabinet.....” JPJ... "If you still can’t earn a living, why not do other jobs? Did someone force them? It is really true that you cannot earn a living?”
To me, this warrants a review of the entire system for the issuance of taxi permits. That is the probably root cause of the whole problem. I am surprised that the reporters in The Star failed to mention this matter. It is unfair to push the blame to the cabbies all the time – they are the ones who have the least vested interests in the situation.
