Malaysian Taxi Standardisation

Malaysia Today reported Proton Likely To Gain From Govt's Malaysian Taxi Plan.

Important excerpts from the article
A) Datuk Noh Omar Wednesday said the Cabinet has asked the ministry to discuss with Proton, requesting the national car producer to design and manufacture a taxi that portrays the image of the country.

B) Azlan also confirmed that Proton will launch a taxi and car that are fitted with natural gas for vehicle (NGV) facility within this year. "We have already started the project, where cars like Proton Saga, Waja and Wira as well as Persona will be fitted with NGV facility. So, it can use bi-fuel, petrol as well as NGV and also it would be cheaper as it is done in the factory," he said.

Response
1) On statement A, I wonder whether it is necessary to create a new car that truly reflects the national identity. Currently, from what I can see, Malaysia already have a few variants, with the majority resembling the model in the picture below. To top it all off, almost all taxis in Malaysia are Protons. The model below is the Proton Iswara version.


(Pic : Current Malaysian taxis on the road)

2) Going by the assumption there is an intention to standardise the taxis in Malaysia, presumably only a few versions will be allowed, one wonders what would happen to the older taxis taking the picture above as an example. Will the owners of the older taxis be forced to change theirs to new standard versions? Who will bear the costs of making that change if it is not the taxi owners themselves?

3) Assuming the owners will be the bearer of the costs of compulsory change, wouldn't the standardisation burden them in this day of economic uncertainty and fuel price hike?

4) The government (BN) advised the citizens to "Change their lifestyle" due to the recent unconscionable Fuel Price Hike in the beginning of June 2008. The public was very unhappy with the move despite the advice. Should point 3 be true, would taxi fares be raised to pass on some costs to the users (public)?

5) Supposing points 3 and 4 be realised, wouldn't Malaysian citizens (both the groups of taxi owners and users) suffer from the heavy costs of standardisation?

6) Since there is a discussion between the Ministry with Proton, is there any money given to Proton from public funds for the project? If "yes", why? Is Proton doing good in business these days?

7) There should not be much opposition towards standardisation when the economy is doing good. The money should have been placed into better use since "image standardisation" is a complimentary rather than an essential process in this time of price inflation.

8) On statement B, the move is anticipatory. NGV does save costs but this should not be used as a basis for using public funds on the standardisation process.

Public Transportation : New Shelters and My Experience

New Shelters
Reading this article : New look bus shelters for KL in The Star Online - Metro amuses me. A question immediately crossed my mind : is this part of the so-called improvement to public transportation in tandem with ubiquituous dissatisfaction on the recent 40% fuel price hike? I have previously blogged about the increase in Horrible Jam and Fuel Price Hike : Questions and Opinions

I hope that this is not the only solution being put forward. Bus shelter is the least worrying problem of the terrible Malaysian public transportation system. The Explicit tells us the improved shelters will provide more comfortability for bus users. Let's all pray and wish hard that this is not an implicit sign denoting longer waiting time for buses, therefore to make the commuters slightly less stressful and angry, instead of adjusting the system, the waiting stand is upgraded. If this is the only effort, I would feel very concerned.

To date, I have yet to read any sound proposal from our Ministry of Transportation or its Minister on integrating the public transportation system. No one is particularly sure whether we will get to see another Ling Liong Sik-styled Ministry (in the making perhaps?). It is indeed unfortunate that good common sense only came to Dr. Chua Soi Lek, who is no longer a Minister. He wrote Public Transportation System: Urgent Need to Improve Efficiency highlighting an efficient integrated system as a priority.

An important excerpt from the entry :
__________________________________________________

Because of the inconveniences that the commuter has to go through and the poor integration of the rail, bus and taxi, the commuter has no choice but to opt for their own transports. An international study conducted a few years ago had rated the KL transport system as worst than Bangkok, while we continue to convince ourselves that we have a good road system and have the highest number of car ownership in ASEAN *

With the escalating fuel cost, lack of public transportation system has become an economic and social problem to average commuters. Unless the government can improve the transportation system in Klang Valley, it will continue to be the hot issues for the Pakatan Rakyat.
__________________________________________________

* Citation needed for the international study. Otherwise, this statement is deem inconclusive and should be taken only as an opinion and not as fact. However, it should not be dimissed that the KL system is deplorable.

My Experience as a Commuter
In the past, much had been said. Taking out smaller issues like comfortability, prices and quality of customer service, I would conclude the "root of evil" in this public transportation system is on "Inconsistency". The weakest transport mode would be KTM Komuter and buses.

While it is understood that KTM Komuter has an old system, it baffles me that there are new buses which regulate at an 1 hour ++ intervals at night. One fine Sunday night, I tried using the service only to realise the Jalan Othman (Petaling Jaya) and Taman Gembira buses arrive once after Taman Desa, Puchong, O.U.G. and several common buses went through three intervals.

It is like seeing people rushing to grab food from U.N. officers in a month's long drought season or after a calamity. The bus was horribly packed and people had to stand at the stairs with the "Jangan Berdiri di Tangga" precaution on the door. If one thought those days of those small, rapid and dangerous "Bas Mini" are over, think again. There were times, I had to stand right in front of the windscreen without much space to move. I would say the driver could not see the left side of the mirror at that time. I would not want to imagine whether I would be transformed into a "launching missile" in a bus-car collision.

There is one thing that is worth mentioning about "Bas Mini". At least, they were more frequent than the longer new ones. There should be no excuses that the long waiting period for those buses are because of traffic jam. There were no jams for my route home on the mentioned Sunday night.

Imagine if you are unfortunate enough to move from one place that requires KTM Komuter and a bus to either Jalan Othman or Taman Gembira. After a delay of probably 10 to 15 minutes (sometimes 30 minutes if some trains technically broke down) for a KTM train, spend another 10 to 15 to walk from the station in KL to Klang Bus Stand and another 1 hour to wait for the bus. Spend 1/2 an hour to reach home. Collectively, that would be 2 to 3 hours to get home. Luckily, the situation in morning is often more positive. Basically, one has "no life".

One may ask how I managed to survive all this. Sometimes I follow my friend's car or LRTs. When I reached KL or other stations, I will take a costlier transport home : the taxi. Comparatively, minus off the cost of buying a car (using the instalment scheme) and road tax, the accumulated cost of travelling by public transportation is slightly more expensive.

For some personal reasons, I am not getting a car anytime soon. I would have bought one if I have better financial means. I would like to convince my pals and readers to opt for public transportation but how could I do it when I read articles like this from Che Det on RAPID KL? Who is this company affiliated with? The public should be informed whether it has anything to do with people who promise public transportation system reforms during the recent fuel price hike.

P.S. http://klcommuter.blogspot.com/ is doing a good job in posting entries (with pictures) on the subject matter.

This article is also published in http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/8689/84/

Ferry Incident: Can We Be Even Dumber Than This?

Goodness gracious.... I have just read a letter from Malaysiakini titled Dumb and dumber over ferry inferno from Norman Fernandez.

It seems that Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis said there is an urgent need for a new jetty which could prevent untoward incidents.

How profound that is Jamaluddin ... I was dumb struck for a while.

Now let's read Norman Fernandez on this "brilliant" ideas only certain people can think of:
" Perhaps the minister would like to be informed that people had died from a ferry tragedy and not from a collapsed jetty. As of yesterday, the death count from the Tioman Island ferry tragedy is six and one passenger is still listed as missing. "


Simple isn' it? We do not require Einstein to solve this equation. No rocket science. Recent Ferry Tragedy = Caused by Ferry. Notice that the word "Ferry" is at both sides of the formula?

As if matters are not clear enough, A Tioman disaster waiting to happen letter from Alicia Au was published in Malaysiakini on 12th June 2006. She described the dangerous experiences she had to go through in the ferry service that she had taken. Now, it was found out that Disaster is waiting to happen in Redang too , according to a letter by Humble Teacher in Malaysiakini .

Point 1: Police Report Lodged Few Months Before Incident
The most important point is that a police report was actually lodged. Prominent socio-political blogger, KTemoc wrote a piece of article on the letter above : Tioman ferry disaster - Ministerial criminal negligence .

No one is sure if the related authorities had taken any action on Alicia Au's report. However, everyone can be sure that a big ferry accident happened currently ( as reported by Malaysiakini ). It is completely logic that survivors want answers from the authorities. One may ask why? The answer is simple as I quote from KTemoc's second writing on the tragedy:

Point 2: Alleged Unethical Operators
" However, there is another maritime tradition which requires the captain of the ship and his crew to leave the vessel in distress ONLY AFTER every passenger had been taken care of.It

Survivors accused the crew of abandoning them when the passenger cabin filled with thick, black smoke, and giving no help to the elderly and children on board. "

Point 3: Regulator or Transport Ministry Not Doing Their Job
" You may be shocked, but wait because there’s more. A Marine Department official said the ferry's permit to transport passengers had expired in December last year and not been renewed. That's almost one year of unlicensed sailing!

So? What's our regulator doing? Look, it's a Marine Department official who said that, so was there any close-one-eye thingy at the top? "
_____________________________________

It is no doubt that a new jetty may help in preventing untoward incident but shouldn't we prioritize according to the points stated above? Jamaluddin's suggestions are not even close to eliminate the symptoms. He is suggesting something that is totally unrelated to the ferry incident.

In order to permanently stop a problem, just like a disease from recurring, the government should weed out the problem from the ROOT, not from the SYMPTOMS. Point 3 (from above) would be used to illustrate this.

A common step taken by most authorities in the Third World would be to penalise the operator involved in this incident. It is possible that the company will be banned and the owners be blacklisted. Other operators in Tioman Island would be investigated. If the authorities are hardworking (which I normally doubt), ferry operators all over Malaysia would be inspected as well.

One question remains: Would such a move prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future?

My answer: Definitely not. Perhaps few years later some operators may repeat what was being done. After all profit is the main ingredient for any business. The lesser maintenance on ferries, the lesser money being spent. The more people being packed in a ferry, the greater the profit ! The operators would most probably think: "Why should I care? The authorities are not going to check everytime".

Therefore this makes the approach a temporary solution. The issues are sorted from the "symptoms" level. The "disease" persists.

Sorting out issues from the Root perspective, the government should create a system to periodically, preferably quarterly, bi-annually or yearly run through of a database of all ferries. A list of those expired should be produced and checks should be performed. Operators should be demerited or penalised immediately. A rule stating upon a repeat of such offense on three counts would equal to revocation of license.

From time to time, the regulator bodies @ the government should randomly check on several ferries or operators to ensure the "health" is maintained. Slap them with penalty if the job is not
done properly.

An effective and efficient complaints line with proper contact information disseminated should be created. Bear in mind that a police report was lodged previously. That is an example of poor public service. The new complaints line should not work in that terrible manner.

With regular inspection and avenue for the public to become as watchdogs, the operators would be forced to maintain quality for business sustainance. This is the permanent solution that should be adopted. The "disease" can only be eliminated when the "root" of it is removed.

If Transport Ministry Chan Kong Choy can't perform or think of a "root" solution, wouldn't it be appropriate if a fellow citizen in Malaysiakini to ask : Isn’t it time for the transport minister to quit?

Malaysia cannot afford deaths of many for the non-performance of an individual. After all, democracy calls for Utilitarian Approach, Transparency, Accountability

Citizen Think Tank: Poor Cyberjaya Bus Service

I have posted my latest voicing on Citizen Think Tank - Citizen Voice. Will be submitting this as a letter to the editor@malaysiakini.com for publishing.
_____________________________

Poor Cyberjaya Bus Service
Link: http://www.citizenthinktank.com/citizenvoice/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=1

Description:
Cyberjaya RapidKL bus which is supposed to transport public transport users from the intellegent city to Putrajaya Sentral Bus Station is besieged with problems. Previously in previous months, the number 429 bus will appear at 5.10 p.m. during offices off-time. The second bus will appear around 5.35 p.m. This is a violation of the 15 to 20 minutes interval bus feeding promised by RapidKL. The regularity can be seen on banners of RapidKL buses. Starting from July it seems the waiting interval has become worse.

Two intervals of bus has been merged into 1. The 5.10 p.m. and 5.35 bus will not appear until 5.45 p.m. On 4th and 5th July 2007, I took a bus which is so full with people that literally users are sticking onto the front glass of the bus! That is what you get for squeezing people of two buses into one.

This is also a cause of concern where it is a risk to the dangers of the bus users. Another violation is the bus has taken more than its limit should. Basically, the bus drivers are having problem looking at its side and front mirrors which may result in a traffic jam.

The bus initially did not want to stop to take people from the bus stop I am in. I used a Sony Cyber-shot to take a picture and subsequently realising that, the bus driver stopped to pick us up. Sad to say, people in at least three subsequent stations was skipped. I wonder whether they have to wait for another 1/2 an hour in addition to the previous 1/2 hour violation waiting time previously. An 1 hour waiting time is a blunder in such a highly reputed city with no traffic jams. In June, Someone said they wanted Malaysia's public transport to be as good as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Have they been overseas, I wonder? Hong Kong and Singapore have a much complex system but able to handle it well. If Cyberjaya city governance can't handle a simple transport system in Cyberjaya, how will the public have confidence in the Malaysia government handling the country's successfully?

Proposed Solution:
Submit a petition from Citizen Think Tank - Citizen Voice to the governance of Cyberjaya and RapidKL. The petition should contain:
1) Problem faced by users of the transport system.
2) Seek for explanation from RapidKL on their non-compliance.
3) Seek for a solution from the governance of Cyberjaya on this issue. How are they supposed to communicate with RapidKL?
4) Request for an exact date of resolution.

I can be e-mailed at lemmonate@gmail.com or be located at my blog. Reviews, Solutions and Ideas are welcome in Citizen Voice.

Regards....