Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a.k.a. Ku Nan has come out to say that taxi drivers need to improve their quality of service if they hope to compete against ride-sharing services like Uber and Grab.
In a report by The Sun, he said locals as well as tourists have filed numerous complaints on the poor quality of public taxi services, prompting them to opt for alternative taxi services.
“People are frustrated with high prices charged by taxi drivers, as well as taxi drivers choosing their own route and lack of cleanliness. Due to that, people are likely to use Uber and Grab,” he told The Sun.
Ku Nan’s statements comes following an incident that occurred in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (March 29, 2016), where around 300 taxi drivers gathered along Jalan Bukit Bintang to protest against ride-sharing services.
During the protest, the taxi drivers parked their vehicles in front of the Fahrenheit 88 mall (near Pavilion KL), resulting in a two-hour congestion, forcing police to redirect traffic away from the area. A total of five taxi drivers were arrested for failing to comply with the police to vacate the area.
According to Ku Nan, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had no authority over taxi drivers because that jurisdiction falls under the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).
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Ku Nan should propose that all teksi drivers and all rempits be given a section of KL where they can lumba and protest.
Instead of arresting the teksi drivers who caused a major standstill in KL 2 days ago, Ku Nan now is giving advice to them.
Go and arrest them and revoke their lesen. Why give advice? if someone rape, do you arrest him or do you sit down with him and talk nicely over a cup of tea and say, “Jangan brader rogol. Ini tidak baik. Jangan lakulan lahi brader. Jemput, minum teh”
your last paragraph is not quite accurate.
its like telling the rapist it is legal to rape from 12am to 6am…
Notwithstanding how untrustworthy politicians are, Teuku Nan’s words put him in a positive light. Shows how badly irreversibly degenerate taxi drivers are. Now SPAD please act and justify your CEO’s fat salary.
So what? Proton has been raping us for 30 years and we all say OK?
Many of us focus on the taxi drivers poor quality of vehicles, service and high prices they charged. But we failed to see the main issue here. A taxi driver needs to get a permit but many of them couldnt get it and they have to lease. Who hold all these permits? Obviously they are given to all those cronies. As a result they have to pay for both the cronies and the leasing of the taxi. As a result we are still riding on old Proton Saga, Wira, Waja. I am not saying what taxi drivers done was right but obviously it all started from our stupid nepotism practice.
For once, you make a sensible statement…
300 teksi drivers protested, but you arrest only 5?
This is like saying, 300 people commited murder, but only 5 we arrested.
Uber & Grab do illegal business, but how many drivers were arrested? None. Gov is too much siding with Uber & Grab
The entire gomen is doing illegal business. Arrest gomen?
aa usual, political talk. Nothing special.
im sure he only saying this because he got stuck at my massage parlour in bukit bintang
For once he’s talking sense
The disruptive apps has democratised public transportation globally. Its bound to meet with resistance where ever it is introduced. Taxi drivers will become history one day just like the office typists. In future even uber will not be able to survive as more and more ride sharing apps becomes intuitive thus making the word sharing truly possible.
Failed to comply to vacate the area?
300 taxi drivers, and only 5 arrests?
Was the other 295 that much more cooperative when it came to complying? If so why was there a 2-hour long jam?
If not then why were there only 5 arrests?
Taxi drivers, you are being left behind in an era where people with mindsets like yours will fade away. No matter how much show you all put on, your industry strives on the very SERVICE you provide to your customers.
If you fail to even provide the utmost basic service, then why us PAYING customers SHOULD opt to use you, when there are much better (in every way) alternatives?
Tips? Here’s some:-
– Too lazy to read? Jump to the last point.
– Clean up your mess (literally), lets start small here.
– Dress properly, if you’re wearing a shirt, USE IT, the buttons are there for a reason. From personal experience and stories, SOME ‘drivers’ dress more like a gangster for some reason… an attempt to intimidate you into paying a higher fare maybe?
– Clean your car, BOTH exterior and interior, most if not all of us have experienced some rides that are less than pleasant to say the least.
– DO NOT SMOKE in your vehicle, your vehicle is a vessel to ferry PAYING customers. Respect the fact that MANY people prefer a smoke-free interior.
– I know this is hard… but be HONEST, detours, not being honest, and haggling is part of the reason that got you in this messed up (I’m refraining from swearing here) position. In an attempt to earn a couple more you lose the respect of the general public. (Psst! This is BAD for the LONG run, and look where we are now)
– BE PROFESSIONAL (GOOGLE the term professional driver)
NOTE, these are not OVERNIGHT remedies, it will take time to fix what a couple (debatable, if not more than a couple) of bad eggs in your industry has broken.
I’m not saying all taxi drivers are bad, personally, I’m both honored and lucky to have met some PROFESSIONAL taxi drivers (from all races and walks of life) in my days. I look forward to meeting more pleasant drivers and wish you all the best of luck amidst this chaos.
To the others, trying to justify your poor style and lack of professionalism by saying its affecting your livelihood in general proves how ignorant you are and think that we as passengers OWE it to you, and thinking that we should only use your services when it comes to road transport.
Losers always blame Uber blame pendatang blame parents blame God except themselves..tats why they remain losers and used by others still dunt realized
Do u think those cabbies gonna improve themselves if u as one of the responsible authorities set the all round rules standard very low? Change your mind of thinking & implementing first!
just remember this face, taxi drivers, when you go for voting. and then group yourself to some thousands, and this pratt will sing something else
the fact that matter is, ferrying people need somekind of special arrangement whether it needs special tax or license or approval. those uber people, do they have it?
so get it right, adnan. dont hide behind taxi making noises, if there is nothing to shout about then people wont be making any sound at all
All UMNO leaders must improve to be competitive.
now this celup tengku trying to make his point????
Follow Jakarta, tapi tak jadi.
DBKL should have towed away all the taxis parked there