Driving a car in Malaysia should be made a luxury, not a necessity, says DAP assemblyman Liew Chin Tong

Driving a car in Malaysia should be made a luxury, not a necessity, says DAP assemblyman Liew Chin Tong

The government needs to find the political will to make driving private cars a luxury instead of a necessity, as is currently the case, said DAP deputy sec-gen Liew Chin Tong. In a Facebook post, the Perling assemblyman said that most Malaysians had to resort to cars as a necessity as public transport was non-existent in many parts of the country, including Kuala Lumpur, where there were very few first-mile and last-mile connections.

He urged the government to expand the coverage of buses and other modes of public transport so that at least 40-50% of the population have access to reliable public transport. This matter had become even more pressing with the rise in global oil prices.

“Each time global petrol prices hike to US$100 per barrel, there will be a panic call to reduce subsidy bills. According to finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, with the current high price of crude oil, Malaysia’s petrol subsidies alone may reach up to RM30 billion this year, almost doubling what was originally budgeted for,” he said.

While it is understandable that the government needed to look at the removal of a blanket subsidy, Liew said that simply hiking petrol prices without providing adequate public transport would mean that low-income earners would be forced to switch to motorcycles for their transportation needs, which would increase the fatality rate on roads.

“Research has shown that each time petrol prices go up in Malaysia, the number of road deaths increases. There is a direct correlation between petrol hike and the number of people switching to motorcycles, and thus the number of road deaths and accidents,” he said. He however did not provide any data to back up his claims.

He said that ensuring adequate public transport would not just help reduce traffic congestion, which former transport minister Anthony Loke said is an issue the government needs to address immediately, but would also contribute greatly to the reduction of carbon emissions, a key factor in slowing climate change.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • Mr. Sotong on May 31, 2022 at 11:12 am

    Political career self destruction hahahahaa

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 180 Thumb down 101
    • AutoFrenz (the original) on May 31, 2022 at 12:10 pm

      Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.

      Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 170 Thumb down 324
      • Civic Turbo 2018 on May 31, 2022 at 1:49 pm

        Sometimes U just cannot say it for political survival. Cannot remove subsidy for RON95 because bad for politics. Even though fact is fact. Let all sink together

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 18
        • Unknown on May 31, 2022 at 4:54 pm

          As if DAP politicians actually cares. They pretty much alienated themselves from those segments dependent on subsidised RON95 so its not like their people care. Perhaps that’s why LCT said what he said cuz it wouldn’t affect their voter base but will raise ire with those who won’t vote for them anyways. In other words, this stunt is just for DAP to shiok sendiri their supporters only.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 94 Thumb down 107
          • Maverick on May 31, 2022 at 7:29 pm

            For PAS ppl like us, we only want Mercedes.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 89 Thumb down 71
          • Lolwhut? on May 31, 2022 at 10:53 pm

            Be that as it may, PAS have never been so high & upkeras as to dictate that cars should remain in the domain of those rich & mighty as DAP just did.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 42 Thumb down 85
    • Casual reader on May 31, 2022 at 12:25 pm

      Wow! So electing DAP will forsee cars becoming luxuries for their T20 members, friends and cronies. We will soon fast track be affluent nation when only the rich can afford to travel by car. Good job!

      Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 147 Thumb down 97
      • Rakyat Malaysia on May 31, 2022 at 5:03 pm

        Rakyat DAP ke arah T20! Yahoo! Meanwhile rest of rakyat Malaysia ke arah B80. hu hu hu….

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 68 Thumb down 49
    • AutoFrenz (the original) on May 31, 2022 at 12:28 pm

      If they dont make racist statements they will make stupid statements…dap’s trademark since they were established…maybe it’s their slogan HaHaHa

      Hot debate. What do you think? Thumb up 153 Thumb down 114
      • Why So Serious on May 31, 2022 at 4:24 pm

        DAP MP just like their macais, loves shooting their own foot or each others feet when they ran out of foot to shoot at.
        DAP Tagline: Shooting own foot since 1969

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 102 Thumb down 57
        • Ghani on Jun 01, 2022 at 2:42 am

          Fully agreed. Its much easier to just keep spoonfeedings we Malaysians, whilst the local brown politikus kept pilfering from the cookies jar. DAP life would be much better then, LOL… Just simple as that . 1piece of cake for the 30Mil ppl, 99pcs of cake for us the thieving till akhirat amno BN muds.

          Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 135 Thumb down 50
          • apa lu cakap ni? what does this have to do with amno or BN? i dun even support BN but the pro-PH posts are getting too much lately.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 62
          • Rakyat Malaysia on Jun 01, 2022 at 10:05 am

            DAP plotekting vvips dulu, kini dan selamanya. Mesti plotek jgn xplotek tau.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 50
    • Ajibkor on May 31, 2022 at 1:28 pm

      Chin Tong go n have a bowl of hot chingtong to dislodge all the shit from your throat.Don’t drag your innocent vvips into your fantasy.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 29 Thumb down 123
      • History Bender on May 31, 2022 at 5:34 pm

        No worries. Their vvips won’t be affected by expensive car prices or fuel price going up anyhow and they got police escorts to shield them and their sons, daughters and anak itiks from the wrath of the public. DAP are telling the poorer rakyat: “let them eat cake”.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 72 Thumb down 83
    • Sick & Tired on May 31, 2022 at 4:28 pm

      PHDAP macais so active coming to plotek their snowflake MP by downvoting comments. And they had the cheek to complain about BN troopers here. Stupids.

      Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 118 Thumb down 57
    • Copy Paste on May 31, 2022 at 10:37 pm

      Copy paste: “Really stupid PH cytros… This site nobody interested in politics also you guys can spend so many bots to downvote. The pattern is so damn obvious. Looks like your oversatured fb and twitter already is it? Haha… What a waste of money… Really bodo. No wonder can work for as cytro only.”

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 39 Thumb down 60
  • itsbuytime on May 31, 2022 at 11:12 am

    If buses have no Bangla, Indon or any other PATI, and Air conditioned and clean and on time, I will take it. Else, my car is miles better than any public tranport.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 80 Thumb down 74
    • Dr MG on May 31, 2022 at 12:09 pm

      Quit being a racist bigot. Stick to the point and hard facts. You will be considered a pendatang in a foreign land as well.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 26 Thumb down 10
    • If our PATIs found the usefulness of our public transportations that meant the low ridership is not due to bad connectivity or whatnot but simply our rakyat too proud to use public transports plus the cheap fuel cost as well. the problem is the rakyat not the infra then.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
  • jinggo on May 31, 2022 at 11:13 am

    bad idea. such a useless overpaid politician.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 83 Thumb down 93
  • dong gor on May 31, 2022 at 11:20 am

    who don’t know your mother a woman. is there a proper system to get ppl from A to B or not first. Ppl have been sacrificing a big chunk of their income for transport all these years (and a lot of it go to excise duty bla bla bla) and never come say we should treat car as last option, and use the improved transportation we will be providing. when want to remove subsidy, come tell grandmother story that standard 3 students also know it’s just story. PUI

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 49
  • dong jie on May 31, 2022 at 11:24 am

    you all are misunderstanding his pov. he is saying make public transport as good as cars so that we wont feel our cars is better. not increase car price to make it a luxury.

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 168 Thumb down 21
  • balingboy on May 31, 2022 at 11:27 am

    you mean a luxury like the penang DAP MP son who get polis escort?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 47 Thumb down 87
    • Ghani on Jun 01, 2022 at 2:56 am

      I could swear that Baling MP mamak son of Azeez Rahim from Umngok who got polis outriders. For us devoted Muslims, Fitnah merupakan suatu dosa besar yang tak terampuni oleh Allah SWT.

      Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 138 Thumb down 34
  • Kapchai on May 31, 2022 at 11:41 am

    Maybe Mr Liew Chin Tong says Malaysian can ride Kapchai…..

    Come join the kapchai group first?

    #Walk The Talk.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 52
  • I live in 16 Sierra, Puchong and the new MRT2 line has a station in my township and another 2 stations in Cyberjaya where I work. Here’s my issue with public transportation:

    Walk from home to Sierra station = 10 mins
    MRT ride = 10 mins (estimated)
    Walk from Cyberjaya station to workplace (not feasible)
    Feeder bus or taxi from station to workplace (15 mins)
    Total time: 35 mins + sweat from walking & waiting.

    Drive from home to workplace = 15 mins (10 km)

    Driving is half the duration and more relaxing as I arrive fresh and ready for work, as opposed to arriving all sweaty and I need to refresh myself at the washroom before starting work.

    This is a rather short, simple commute for me. I cannot imagine if you need to travel 60-90 minutes in a train & bus versus driving to work.

    Walking is simply not practical given our climate (temperature and humidity).

    I would love to walk and take public transportation, but it simply is not practical for everyday commute.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 38 Thumb down 49
    • Hate Traffic Jams on May 31, 2022 at 4:39 pm

      Somehow if you use car, will be causing more jams.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 4
    • Passing by on May 31, 2022 at 7:50 pm

      Deyh, try living in Klang.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 2
      • You missed the point. I’m not comparing one town with another.

        My point is, it’s not feasible to take public transport from home to office.

        Just because you live and struggle in Klang does not mean everyone else’s opinion does not matter.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
    • Matematik on May 31, 2022 at 8:11 pm

      You should consider riding motorcycle. Made my decision and its the best. Safety? Yeah there is a concern. Take a clutch motor then you instinct become higher.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • newme on May 31, 2022 at 11:58 am

    Wow, how many votes will he lost?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 26 Thumb down 66
    • Casual reader on May 31, 2022 at 12:28 pm

      More like how many elections will DAP and PH lose

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 27 Thumb down 63
      • Ghani on Jun 01, 2022 at 2:51 am

        The article title should read like this instead:
        Driving a car in Malaysia should be made a Necessity, not a luxury, says DAP assemblyman Liew Chin Tong.

        Then voila, majority votes had swung to DAP again and they’re marching to Putrajaya. Just my 2cents, after voted BN for the past 40 years. But I extremely regretted, so no more votes for them. Say NO to BN, and ABU anything but Umno

        Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 142 Thumb down 80
  • seancorr on May 31, 2022 at 12:12 pm

    This fella should start riding the LRT on a daily basis to see what the daily dangers that the people are facing. Sometimes the train can be filled with foreign workers so try entering one if you’re a female. If that’s not a challenge then what about the snatch theft that happens after you exit the train station? That’s another huge issue to tackle and it doesn’t matter whether you’re a male or female. Both will get dragged on the road.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 29 Thumb down 45
    • Passing by on May 31, 2022 at 8:17 pm

      You think Lrt only dangers? You never been to Klang is it? That’s why you don’t know real meaning of danger lah macha say things very easy one try you come here

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 1
  • What kind an idiot this person

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 66
  • 7774g92 on May 31, 2022 at 12:46 pm

    Commie idea

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 5
  • tell him to try travel around malaysia without a car. we don’t have the below listed, so car is still a necessity:
    1. pedestrian safety(taman taman have no sidewalks, no zebra crossing, even there is sidewalk there u go a foodstall, shoplot corridor full of obstacles)
    2. no connecting transport to nearest train station
    3. ktm cannot pakai
    4. do we have trains/metro in each state like japan does? can our public transport cover each corner like singapore does? end up needing to rent a car if i take ETS to other state?
    5. ETS is slow, narrow and uncomfortable.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 32
  • If SG can do it why can’t bolehland?

    Intro COE, raise road tax significantly, put tolls everywhere.

    If you are made to pay RM$270k for a piece of imaginary paper and excluding the price of the car, your city area will be clear of traffic

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 9
    • History Bender on May 31, 2022 at 5:37 pm

      SG is an island smaller than Klang Valley, sure we can do the same if we disregard the rest of Malaysia. Let them walk by foot or use bullock carts. *sarcasm*

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 0
  • Ben Yap on May 31, 2022 at 2:35 pm

    no data to support can simply shoot statements. Fuh! all talk only.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 55
  • Mooties on May 31, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    Basic pedestrian infrastructure is not there. Public transport/ private car hire is either inaccessible, expensive or lacking last mile connectivity.

    A lot of us (including myself) would love to take public transport instead of driving, but we sadly don’t have the infrastructure in place to make it a viable option for those of us that are not desperate to ditch our cars.

    Sorry to say, it’s all a result of wasteful/ discriminatory government policies and huge leakages in any project that results in where we are today.
    Every action leads to a reaction.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 137 Thumb down 112
  • I suggest :

    You have number plate recognition at highway toll plazas, right?

    Any car that is found to travel for more than 100 km on highways more than 4 times a year (1 direction == 1 time), no road tax renewal for 1 year, no insurance for 1 year, driver license suspended for 1 year.

    More than 8 times a year, all punishments multiplied by 2.

    More than 12 times a year, all multiplied by 3.

    To discourage car use, one of the most important parts is to bankrupt the highway operators and TnG, or make sure they have very cloudy financial future. Are you willing to do so?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 10
  • Anonymous on May 31, 2022 at 10:15 pm

    I agree. Many scholars and industry experts believe that future city residents will no longer NEED cars. This is what most here are misunderstanding. You can own cars, you just don’t need to use them if the public transport is better than driving yourself. If you can afford it but don’t need it then by definition it’s a luxury purchase no matter how cheap it is. Of course VIPs or any persons of interest will have to use cars as part of their safety protocol.

    We can see this trend happening today. Many residents of metropolitan cities like New York and Tokyo choose not to buy cars even when they earn 6-figure sums annually. They would rather walk to bus and train stations because it’s easier to plan their schedule around a reliable transport system. If they want to go outside the city they rent cars.

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 139 Thumb down 1
    • Ah Chong on Jun 01, 2022 at 8:01 am

      Need more people like you. Whenever there’s some progressive opinion or suggestion surfaces, usually to do with forward thinking or environmental benefit, typical Malaysian backward thinking will just make a lot of noise and cry foul because they are selfish and think about themselves.

      We should just tax cars based on “impact”, say, emission or petrol because the more you use it the more you’re taxed. Its okay if public transport is so good you don’t even need cars.

      But for car lovers it’s okay, maybe owning car can be cheap now, and just that using it is expensive. So you can now use public transport during weekdays and maybe driving a mustang in the weekend for fun. What’s not to love?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 40 Thumb down 2
  • Disagree with Chin Tong. Private cars should be banned in the future, when there is good public transportation available. Only vehicles for transportation of goods and business purposes. Look at Penang. Basically a parking lot for cars.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 32
    • Hate Traffic Jams on Jun 01, 2022 at 11:26 am

      Some people would love to drive cars but problem is that there are huge traffic jams everywhere. Yes I agree that public transportation is needed but don’t need to buy 600,000 cars every year

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Disagree with Chin Tong. Private cars should be banned in the future, when(if) there is good public transportation available. Only vehicles for transportation of goods and business purposes. Look at Penang. Basically a parking lot for cars. These are issues that a competent government should be taking on.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 36
    • Hate Traffic Jams on Jun 01, 2022 at 11:26 am

      Some people would love to drive cars but problem is that there are huge traffic jams everywhere. Yes I agree that public transportation is needed but don’t need to buy 600,000 cars every year

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
    • That is provided DAP Penang Govt were competent in the first place but their track record speaks otherwise.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 46
  • The critics here must read the whole article to understand what is said. Not just the title.

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 131 Thumb down 2
    • PlainBS on Jun 01, 2022 at 12:18 pm

      And supporters here must be living in cloud cuckoo lalaland. DAP brains can’t even solve congestion in Penang Island and they got such bigmouth to talk about the rest of Malaysia… how to trust these koktalkers.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 56
    • This is why real news sites don’t use clickbait titles… Most people don’t read the article, just the title.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 0
  • Step by step. Plan accordingly. When public transport is convenienve, for example, if it take me one hour, from home to stesen 15min, from station to station 30min, from station to destiny 15min, no one want to stuck in congestion for 2 hours.

    I commented here I unable to take public transport go to work from my house. A “smart” could not wat to show his smart by finding out the bus number. The problem is I have never seen any bus during go out and come back from work for my more than 10years tenure in current location. Yes, may be there after peak hours and it may take you waiting timr for the bus thsn your travelling time!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
 

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