Logistics Infrastructure : NORTHERN MALAYSIAN INTERNATIONAL AIR GATEWAY FACILITY NEEDS FACILITATION!

Penang state Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng proposed to the federal government to build a new airport or expand the existing airport facility in Penang. This is because the current Penang International Airport which was previously known as Bayan Lepas International Airport, has the capacity to hold 5 million people a year. In recent years, the airport did undergo upgrading works worth RM 250 million which elevated the facility’s ability to handle from 3.5 million to 5 million people. The improvisation included additional parking bays for cars and planes.

However, as of October 2013, the visitors consist of local and foreign tourists attained to 4.4 million people. This is an increase 14% compared 9% in the year 2012 and by the end of this year, the utilization of the airport would increase up to 5.5 million people. It is also forecasted that in the 2014, there will be another 10% increase in tourists visiting Penang.

The state government is anxious with the fact that the reputation of the state and country might be jeopardize should the airport fails to handle the increasing tourists into Penang. Furthermore, the car park and even the internal parts of the Penang International Airport are often flooded whenever there is a heavy rainfall due to unsound drainage system. Building an additional runway for the airport on the readily available land will also help the airport to increase the efficiency by accommodating more planes to land and take off.

If at all the statistics and statements expressed by the head of Penang state is accurate, the federal government should, without any further delay, work towards encouraging as well as fulfilling the proposal. Firstly, Malaysia is about to walk into the heavily promoted Visit Malaysia 2014. Penang being famous for its historical spots, splendid food and remarkable island city with beaches will attract more tourists to the state. Secondly, upgrading the airport will help Malaysia to augment its position from the current 29^th ranking in the World Bank Logistics Index Report in 2012. Hence, the Penang International Airport should be included in the formulation of the Logistics Sector Master Plan and National Aviation Policy in order to achieve the aim expressed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during the latest Malaysian Budget 2014, in promoting the Malaysian aviation industry to become the region’s aviation hub. Finally, Penang International Airport should appear to be seamless as it is viewed as a significant gateway for tourism, export and import trade into Malaysia especially the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. Such developments are crucial for the country’s economic status to progress further. Onthe other hand, limiting the growth of the country, particularly a state based on political grounds, should there be any, has to be avoided at once.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Air Logistics : MAS ADVANCE CARGO CENTRE'S SHORTFALL IS EQUIVALENT TO COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC DOWNFALL

Malaysian largest International airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the national flag carrier in the air, Malaysian Airlines System (MAS) has to endure another dilemma that will lead to the country’s economic capabilities to be questioned. This quandary is particularized to the delays at the Advanced Cargo Centre (ACC) which is operated by Malaysian Airlines Cargo Sdn Bhd (MASkargo), the cargo division of MAS. The delays ensued due to the employees of the MASkargo’s vendors, mostly foreign labourers, staging a walk out from the ACC for not being paid their salaries. As a result, the entire import and export operations halted for at least 3 times this year causing delays, loss of businesses as well as revenue deficit to various manufacturing or consumers and other closely related service industries.

To recover from the recurring situation, MASkargo took a swift decision to terminate the problematic vendors. Subsequently, they appointed JR Joint Resources Holdings Sdn Bhd and MASkargo Logistics Sdn Bhd as the new vendors through a stringent procurement and tender process. However, the initiative turns out to be disastrous when the newly appointed vendors positioned insufficient in addition to inexperience employees to carry out the operations functions. Consequently, the inbound and outbound shipments at the ACC begin to pile up further triggering more chain problems such as shipments being misplaced, being damaged or even missing shipments. Nonetheless, the losses are yet to be calculated. 

With such situation persisting till today, the end users or customers are blaming the entire industry for the shortfall. The airfreight forwarders are being held responsible by customers for the impediment at the ACC. They are stranded to handle the delays at the ACC and the same time, manage customers’ expectations. The Airfreight Forwarders Association of Malaysia (AFAM) initiated various efforts to communicate the issues faced by its members, seeking for explanation and compensation. In the latest circular, the AFAM’s Chairman, Walter Culas encouraged the freight forwarders to use airlines services that engage the services of Kuala Lumpur Airport Services instead of MAS Advance Cargo Centre. This measure will give allowance to MAS Advance Cargo Centre to reduce the backlog of shipments & improvise the process.

  

Should the problems are not encountered in a short period of time, it may affect the revenue of MASkargo and eventually turn out to be auxiliary contribution to MAS’s current financial sufferings. Continuance of the problem will also wound the entire logistics sector in Malaysia. Nevertheless, MASkargo should be open to the crisis, seek for help or hunt for solutions externally especially from the industry champions to overcome challenges and set clear processes before the criticality intensifies. After all, MASkargo has the best ground facility in the country to handle cargoes.

Please see the attached copy of letter and circular from AFAM with regards to this issue.  

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Road Logistics : CONTAINER HAULIERS IN MALAYSIA OPERATES TO LOOSE REVENUE?!

Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH) claims that their 80 members that represents 80% out of the total market share face the estimated potential loss of RM 500 million of revenue in an operating year. Container haulier business in Malaysia is valued at about RM 225 million a month or RM 2.7 billion per annum with 5,000 container trucks in service but conversely, there’s a revenue leakage of RM 39.5 million a month. The main reason is because of traffic congestion issues which reduces the productivity that makes up losses up to RM 432 million. While the second reason is the scarcity of diesel at the petrol stations mainly, at Port Klang as well as Penang Port that leads to losses up to RM 42 million per annum. The traffic congestion at Port Klang is a result of ongoing construction of a bridge linking Northport and Southpoint that is anticipated to prolong till October 2014. On the other hand, shortage of subsidized diesel quota of RM 2.00 per litre instead of market price of RM 2.40 or RM 2.60 is often the cause. 1.5 million litres of diesel is consumed daily by the operating container trucks. The recent hike in the haulage rates in Malaysia is not a solution for the problem and is not able to recover the losses made or expected. The increase in ratesonly helps to recoup the rise of fuel prices.

With such barriers and the export and import economy at stake, it is crucial to look into measures that will resolve congestion problems not just for a short term but for at least 10 years from now. Of course, firstly, the bridge construction should be completed earlier than scheduled dates. Also there is a need for additional express road lanes especially for container trucks to bypass the congestion at Port Klang leading them to the respective ports just like the supplementary road lanes for public transport in the cities. Should the idea of constructing the bridge quickly or building supplementary roads may take time and cost a lot of money, perhaps, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) may have just the right solutions. Yes, there can be a container terminal built away from the port area while KTMB provides a feeder services from the terminal to the ports. This will also assist KTMB to increase its value and revenue. Anyway, KTMB is believed to have the infrastructure and resources to cater to such requirements. As for the subsidized diesel issue, there already a proposal made by AMH to Ministry Of Finance, Malaysia (MOF) as well as Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNKK) to allow skid tanks filled with diesel to hold in reserve at their premises or depot instead of queuing at the petrol kiosk around the port area. Of course, the check and balance can be implemented at the same time avoid misuse of such facilitations.

 

There should be proactive measures taken immediately especially when the country’s trade is at stake. It would be the best if we are able to plan ahead. We just hope that reputation tarnishing incident of port hauliers strike at Port Klang in the year 2012 does not re-occur (see Video 1). We also do not wish to see container trucks to be driven recklessly just to meet the delivery timeline or to draw level to next trip as it may increase the number of road accidents (see Video 2).  

Video 1 : Container Haulier Strike at Port Klang ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjNB2y9iAgM )

Video 2 : Fast & Reckless Driver ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BMBWKHpYXM )

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Sea Logistics : CMA CGM ~ YES TO WESPORTS, NO TO PTP BUT CONTINUOUS GROWTH FOR BOTH PORTS

The world’s third largest container shipping line, CMA CGM SA has confirmed that they have no intention to move its regional transshipment hub which is currently located at Wesports in Port Klang to Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Johor. CMA CGM which is currently Wesports Holdings Berhad’s largest customer, contributing up to 10% of the ports revenue, is expecting to handle over 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) this year. Westports is also the French shipping group’s largest transshipment hub. The buzz about possible move by CMA CGM from Westports to PTP rose when it entered into the P3 shipping alliance another 2 large shipping corporations in the world, Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co. Maersk Line has stake of 30% in PTP and strengthen rumour about the possible move of CMA CGM to PTP. Although the air on the relocation had been cleared but due to the P3 alliance, CMA CGM will transfer 5 out of their 80 services from Westports to PTP. These are small volume services between Asia and North Europe. On the other hand, CMA CGM has other growth plans at Wesports to supplant the 5 services while PTP will remain as their secondary hub.

In this case, Westports as well as PTP should be optimistic on the shipping line’s decision. The ports should continue to serve their customers to retain them at Malaysia. It is definitely a great success to see big brands of the logistics world setting their establishments in this country and are looking at continuous growth here. The concentration of both these ports should remain focused in functioning efficiently to accommodate their existing customers and develop further to attract more investments into the country.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Air Logistics : THE GIANT OF ALL, IN THE AIR!

Being the only one ever built so far, the Antonov An-225 Mriya is the largest cargo plane in the world. The word Mriya in the Ukrainian language means ‘Dream’.The gigantic flying object needs no further elaboration as the facts itself proves how majestic is this creation. It was built in 1980s during the Cold War Era by the Soviet Union for the purpose to transport the Buran spaceplane. Soviet Union doesn’t exist any longer, the Cold War has ended and the Buran had been destroyed when its hangar collapsed but the An-225 is still largest plane and currently, had been commercialized as a cargo plane.

The details of the plane are as below

Description	Specification
Name	An-225 Mriya
National Origin	Soviet Union / Ukraine
Manufacturer	Antonov
Production Year	1988
No. Of Production	1
First Flight	21st December 1988
Status	In Service
Civil Registration	UR-82060 (Previously CCCP-82060)
Crew Personnel	6
Length	84 m (275 ft 7 in)
Height	18.1 m (59 ft 5 in)
Wingspan	88.4 m (290 ft)
Wing Area	905 m2 (9,740 sq ft)
Aspect Ratio	8.6
Empty Weight	285,000 kg (628,317 lb)
Max Take Off Weight	640,000 kg (1,410,958 lb)
Fuel Capacity	300000 kg
Cargo Hold	Volume - 1,300 m3 ; Length - 43.35 m ; Width -  6.4 m ; Height - 4.4 m
Engine Capacity (Powerplant)	6 units of ZMKB Progress D-18 Turbofans, 229.5 kN (51,600 lbf)
Maximum Speed	850 km/h (528 mph; 459 kn)
Cruising speed	800 km/h (497 mph; 432 kn)
Range Without Cargo	15,400 km (9,569 miles)
range with maximum payload	4,000 km (2,500 miles)
Service Ceiling	11,000 m (36,089 ft)
Wing Loading	662.9 kg/m2 (135.8 lb/sq ft)
Landing Gear	32 Wheels

Besides being the largest plane in the world, the An-225 holds various records. Some of them are it is the heaviest aircraft in the world with maximum payload; it airlifted single item payload 189,980 kilograms; airlifted total payload of 253,820 kilograms and many others. Today, it serves as a long field strategic airlift cargo plane for various purposes. This includes heavy-lift cargoes for urgent business requirement, military transport and even for relief purposes. The second unit of An-225 which was 65% completed is still stored should there be future requirement of another outsized plane.

VIDEO : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5M1RCHRIMM

Thank you and hope you enjoyed.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Humanitarian Logistics : TYPHOON HAIYAN ~ LOGISTICS LIFELINE FROM MALAYSIA

In the business world today, an organization is measured based on their monetary strength and performance. Being drawn in to the ‘rat race’, every profit oriented business adopts their mission and vision directed towards being a leading organization with greater market share, making handsome profits, with superior quality workforce and operate with the most innovative technology. The scenario is exactly the same when it comes to the industry of logistics. The logistics industry is so wide and competitive, that the business organizations providing logistics services focuses on success and to maintain or increase their market share. Hence, they have minimal time and resources to look into how they can render help to those who are in need. Of course, large multi-national corporations are able to contribute to the society in need under the umbrella known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). How about our local logistics service providers? Are they also involved in carrying out CSR?

We would say yes! There are many but the one that is very consistent on CSR efforts is Infinity Logistics & Transport Sdn Bhd. In the most recent natural disaster, Typhoon Haiyan, the world’s strongest typhoon that struck the central islands of Philippines last Friday (9/11/2013) affected 11 million people and about 673,000 were displaced. Death tolls are still on the rise. While the whole world is cheerless with the catastrophe, people and profit as well non-profit organizations all around the globe initiated various efforts to support and provide aid to the victims. Infinity Logistics & Transport, a homegrown logistics company established since 2003, is one of the profit oriented organization that embarked by activating their Humanitarian Logistics Division to offer free shipping services to donors who are interested in sending aid to the places affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, specifically to the hardest hit areas, Tacloban, Ormoc and Leyte.

 

Infinity Logistics & Transport, in this disaster relief project, will be partnering with 4 other organizations, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Goldstar i/o Newstar, 2Go Group Inc. from the Philippines, and Crisis Relief Services & Training Bhd (CREST) Malaysia, to deliver the relief supplies free of service right until the affected areas. Infinity will be responsible to coordinate this project while offering 10 units of 20-footer containers and the land logistics free of charge to Port Klang. Westports Malaysia will provide free lifting at the Port Klang terminal, Goldstar will provide free freight from Port Klang, Malaysia to Cebu, Philippines, and 2GO will be providing feedering services from Cebu, Philippines to the affected areas in Philippines. Besides that Crisis Relief Services & Training Bhd (CREST) Malaysia in collaboration with IDRN, Operation Blessings and local Filipino NGOs will coordinate the distribution of relief goods to the affected communities. They have also just activated a ground team to Tacloban with medication, soap, dehydrated food to bring emergency relief to the casualties in the devastating storm.

To the companies and individuals who may be interested to donate may contact Infinity Logistics & Transport’s Corporate Communication Manager, Ms. Joanne Teh directly at +6016-2152926 end_of_the_skype_highlightingor email her at corpcom@infinity.com.my . The freight space will be available on a first-come-first-served basis. For easy custom declaration for the relief items, homogenous items such as the 3 most immediate needs – mineral water, dry foods, or tents are encouraged. Therefore, all interested companies or individuals are encouraged to act immediately without hesitation.

We are pleased with the fact that such good deeds are being carried out by logistics companies like Infinity Logistics & Transport especially when they are Malaysian based. This is a remarkable example of an organization which is established in Malaysia for just about 10 years and is able to respond to disasters in the world swiftly. This is however, not the first case where Infinity Logistics & Transport involved in the Humanitarian Logistics aid. It all began during the Japan’s Tsunami incident in 2011 where a joint effort between Sin Chew, CREST and Infinity Logistics & Transport led to the establishment of their Humanitarian Logistics division and launch their first CSR project called “Infinity Cares”. As a conclusion, a business should not just be measured based on their monetary forte or performance or accomplishments but also on their endeavour towards the society. Although CSR is also seen as a mode of advertising a business but it is also crucial to evaluate how many are willing invest the time and efforts to take up the challenge like Infinity Logistics & Transport. That explains the commitment level of the company for the industry and their nobility towards the world.



Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi

Logistics Infrastrucure : A NEW POTENTIAL WINNER! NORTHPORT'S NEW HOPE, THE NEW QUAY CRANES.

With pride, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd receives their 4 units of state-of-the-art technology quay cranes. This is the final delivery of total 6 quay cranes that was purchased at the cost of USD 53.31 Million (RM 170 Million). The 2 of the cranes arrived at the port earlier this year and are currently used at Container Terminal 2 (CT2) while these 4 unit will be fully operational at Container Terminal 4 (CT4) by the year 2014. According to the chairman of NCB Holdings Bhd, the parent company of Northport, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid expresses that the new quay cranes are advantageous to the port. This is because Northport is the first to own such quay cranes that are equipped with sophisticated latest technology.

Prior to the purchase, the port utilized 26 quay cranes with an outreach of 18 containers on the vessel. The container handling capacity then was 3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) per annum. With the new quay cranes in place, Northport now have a crane fleet of 32 units for its quay-side operations. Hence, the port has boosted its ability to handle 5.6 million TEUs per annum. This is due to the cranes has an outreach of 24 container, 6 more than the earlier cranes are capable of. This will eventually increase the productivity of the wharf operations. The Northport (Malaysia) Bhd's Chief Executive Officer, Abi Sofian Abdul Hamid added that the port is expected to handle 3.4 million TEUs in the year 2014. Above all, the cranes are outfitted with environmental friendly terminal equipment known as electric rubber tired gantry (E-RTG) cranes which are fully driven by shore power. This is definitely a wise acquisition to support any green technology initiatives.  

From the way the new quay cranes are described, it can be assumed that these are the largest modern container cranes classified as "Super-Post Panamax" (for vessels of about 22 or more containers wide). If it’s true, then Northport is definitely ready as a principal target to serve the progressively larger super post panamax container ships, exceeding 7,000 TEUs, that started calling at the port. However, we are unsure of the lifting capacity and the weight of the cranes at the moment. Nevertheless, to own such quay cranes technology is not the only deciding factor to be a successful port. It is important to fully utilize the quay cranes and maximize the number of containers handled per unit time. To ensure the cranes are not under utilized, the port will have to look into quay cranes scheduling, the traffic within the port, the yard as well as the internal trucks availability. We are being optimistic to see the success of Northport for the benefit of country's economy and the logistics industry.

Thank you for your precious time.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi



Malaysian Transport : TAXIS IN KUALA LUMPUR - LET'S GUIDE THE GUIDES

I arrived at KL Sentral at about 11:50 pm on Sunday after a weekend trip to Ipoh. Upon arrival, I realized that I’ve missed all the train services that would take me close enough to the place I live. Thus, I have no choice but to opt for a taxi. When I reached the prepaid taxi coupon counter, there was no relevant people to attend to me but there were some cabbies waiting around, asking me where I’m heading to. Once I mentioned my destination, I was quoted a good RM 60.00 for a journey of 8 km. As I always do, I walked away from them not saying a word. I then, decided to stride out of KL Sentral to the area across, Brickfields so that I catch a decent cab. No taxis there were willing to take home with their metre on. Nevertheless, the 5 minutes walk from KL Sentral to Brickfields earned me a discount of RM 20.00. But I still could not convince myself that RM 40.00 would be the best I can get. I mean RM 41.00 was what I paid for the bus fare to & fro Ipoh. After another short walk, another cabbie approached me and he quoted RM 30.00. Now, this seems to be a better deal but I pushed my luck a little by saying RM 20.00. Being tired of traveling and with increasingly impatient feeling to get home, we finally agreed on a fare of RM 25.00. His taxi was parked illegally a few metres away from where we negotiated the fare and it was almost a brand new Proton Saga vehicle with the sign on its door that read “Haggling Is Illegal”. A little too late to argue on anything since the deal was already consented and finalized.

When I got in to the cab, I persuaded the cabbie to turn on the metre just for my knowledge in the future. He was kind enough to agree to my request. As he drove, we started to have casual conversation but I had an intention at the back of my head. I want to know how much can a cabbie earn in a month. So, to begin, I asked question about him. As we talked more, I started asking questions closely related to his job. The conversation I had with him is as below.

Me                   : Are you originally from Kuala Lumpur (KL)?

Taxi Driver     : No, I’m from Taiping. I’m alone here renting a room while my children and wife are all residing in Taiping.

Me                   : How many children do you have?

Taxi Driver     : I have 3 children

Me                   : How old are your children?

Taxi Driver     : They are 16, 12 and 9 years old.

Me                   : How long have you been driving taxi in KL?

Taxi Driver     : I’ve been here for 5 years now

Me                   : How old are you now?

Taxi Driver     : I’m now 46 years old

Me                   : Why did you decide to drive taxi in KL and not remain in the peaceful Taiping town?

Taxi Driver     : Life in Taiping is good but it doesn’t pay me well. So, I can earn a better living by driving taxi in KL.

Me                   : Your taxi seems very new and well kept. How old is it?

Taxi Driver     : It is 6 months old.

Me                   : In 6 months, you have driven close to 25,000 km?

Taxi Driver     : Yes, I did.

Me                   : How many hours do you spend on the road everyday driving?

Taxi Driver     : I spend about 12 hours a day driving on KL roads.

Me                   : Don’t you get sick and agitated with the road traffic congestion in KL?

Taxi Driver     : Yes, I do but this is what I have to put up with to make a living.

Me                   : Dou you own the taxi and the permit?

Taxi Driver     : No. The taxi and permit belongs to a company but I have a hire purchase agreement with owners. I tried applying for my own permit since 2 years ago but to no avail till to date.

Me                   : How much do you pay the company taxi?

Taxi Driver     : I pay RM 47.00 per day.

Me                   : So, for how long do you have to pay the company before the vehicle ownership is transferred to you?

Taxi Driver     : I have to pay for 6 years.

Me                   : Do you still have to pay them even if you decide to take a day off from driving?

Taxi Driver     : Yes, I have to make payments due even if I’m ill.

Me                   : What happens if you lapse on the payment?

Taxi Driver     : The company will repossess the taxi from me and will deduct the amount due   from the deposit that I’ve paid earlier to the company.

Me                   : Well, then, which party is responsible of the repair maintenance of the vehicle?

Taxi Driver     : I have to take care all of it on my own.

Me                   : What about the road tax and insurance for the vehicle?

Taxi Driver     : That is also my responsibility.

Me                   : Do you have insurance for yourself?

Taxi Driver     : No, I don’t. I can’t afford it.

Me                   : How much can you make in a day?

Taxi Driver     : I make about RM 150.00.

Me                   : How much do you spend on the fuel daily?

Taxi Driver     : Luckily, we have natural gas vehicle’s (NGV) cylinder installed in the taxi. So, I spend averagely RM 15.00 per day on fuel.

Me                   : Is the money earned sufficient for the needs of your family and yourself?

Taxi Driver     : It is not enough but I don’t know what else to do. We can’t source for help from anyone especially the banks or the government. My wife has to work just to pay the tuition fee of my children. With the upcoming MY Rapid Transit (MRT), I’m unsure if my earning will reduce. Above all, immigrants are also seen driving taxis these days and some irresponsible taxi drivers are bringing down our reputation. Subsequently, it is reducing the demand for taxis by people in Kuala Lumpur.

   

By the time all these questions were answered and before I could ask more, we reached my destination and the metre showed RM 16.40. After all, to pay RM 25.00 wasn't too bad if I include the midnight surcharge. On the contrary, I don’t know how far the truth of the information shared by this taxi driver is but he answered every question of mine without hesitating or thinking twice. Consequently, based on the information given, I briefly have summed up and wish to share the earnings of this taxi driver as below.

Description	Income / Expenses Per Month (RM)
Gross Income	4,500.00
Taxi Hire Purchase Payment	-        1,410.00
Maintenance & Repairs	-           300.00
Fuel	-           450.00
License / Road Tax / Insurance / Inspection & Misc.	-           100.00
Medical Benefits or Insurance	Nil
Employees Provident Fund	Nil
SOCSO	Nil
Total Net Income	2240.00

If only the taxi permit is issued directly to the taxi driver, he will be able to increase his earnings by another RM 600.00 to RM 800.00. This is simply because a bank loan repayment of a Proton Saga for 6 years will not exceed RM 500.00 per month. However, the taxi driver is currently paying RM 1,410.00 to the taxi company just because the taxi driver doesn’t possess a permit to own a taxi.

In the conversation with the taxi driver, he raised some issues pertaining to political imbalance issues but those can’t be shared here without evidence. Nonetheless, I personally feel that these taxi drivers should be given importance in Malaysia. There are approximately 37,000 taxis in Kuala Lumpur alone at the moment. We must understand that they are not just here to earn a living. Immaterial of rain or shine, they are out there for up to 12 hours per day supporting or accommodating the transportation industry in Malaysia. Many will agree to me that the road traffic in KL can be torturous especially if you spend half your day on the road. More to the point, they are also the important frontlines of our country for the tourism industry. If we do not keep them motivated and disciplined at the same time, I can expect the ugly image they will put out to the tourists. Merely, privatizing taxi services may not be the ideal solutions to the problems of taxi drivers in Malaysia. There has to be adequate check and balances implemented in order to control and maintain the required standards of the taxi vehicles and the drivers. The taxi drivers’ interests in entire country have to be safeguarded.

When any of us raises the lack ability in a system, some parties may disagree or claim that it is untrue or comment that it is easier said than done. I’d say give the opportunity to the right people in the industry and they will help to prove how lay men like taxi drivers can help to boost the country’s economy. As a conclusion, the taxi drivers in Malaysia should be appreciated and intrinsically as well as extrinsically motivated. At the same time greater fines should be enforced on those taxi drivers who violates the rules and laws. Instead of blankly labelling them as cheats, lazy, apathetic, embarrassing, intimidating or anything else, we should drill down to the grassroots on the cause of the problem and give the taxi drivers all the support they need to resolve their issues.

VIDEO : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D00kTiyeSQ

Thank you for reading.

Best regards,

Mahinder Singh Malhi