It was an almost perfect "expedition" that I was part off, from the 12th.-15th. June in Sabah and I was enjoying every minute there, that is, until I arrived at LCCT in Sepang around 1am on Monday.
I cannot help it but write I must , about what I think are 2 scams that needs urgent attention by the relevant authorities.
First off is, on board our return flight from KK, the pretty flight attendants were selling AirAsia bus tickets for RM9 from LCCT to KL Sentral to ease the passengers burden of queuing-up to purchasing tickets for the bus itself.Very good I thought. Okay, then upon checking out of the terminal, we boarded the waiting bus and journeyed on to the city.
What pissed me off was this bus conductor who collected a ticket from the passenger sitting beside me and instead of tearing the ticket along the perforated line, returned a torned portion of another ticket to her and turned to the next passenger who hadn't purchased a ticket earlier and who wanted to pay cash, sold him, her ticket for RM 9 ! Does the operators or the airlines and bus companies know about this ?? Imagine - here an employee is "screwing" his employer ! And this is corruption !
Okay then we went on to the KL Sentral and disembarked around 2am. And there were easily 30 taxis waiting and drivers touting for passengers. So I confidently asked one to take me home and he asked if I bought a coupon !
Wait a minute here ! These are city taxis and so I asked him why I should buy coupons when he's got a meter ! And I again demanded he use the meter and he told me it was "midnight charges" of RM 18 per coupon from KL Sentral to Happy Gardens off Old Klang Road.
Damnit, I know it only cost RM 7 in the day, so even if it was past midnight that cost should be topped-up 50% and should read RM10.50 ! Right ??
So I angrily walked over to the main road in Brickfields about 100 meters away, lugging my bags and hailed another passing taxi, who I demanded put on the meter and he replied, the charge was 100% over and above the meter amount ! I told that taxi to fcuk_off !! By now I was really pissed, until about 10 minutes later came this taxi who actually took me home. The fare showed RM6.70 and when I got down, he said the fare was RM10. ! Now that is good !
My question is, why is the government wasting their precious time and OUR tax-payers money, with meter calibration being mandatory ruling of the Motor Vehicle Licencing Board and all that shit when these corrupt operators are blatantly abusing the system? Where are the authorities ? Who are the real players in these corrupt companies ? In the night there vermins seem to RULE the streets ! No check...No balance !!
And these taxis drivers are the front-liners, foreigners see of our country while being fleeced and they speak to others of the corruption we, you and I, are so helplessly soaked in ! Shame on you cheats and even more ashamed when asked by my foreign friends who had paid these "hijacked" coupon prices ! Somebody do something before we further sink in this already shitty cess-pool, please !!
There you go folks....an almost perfect,yes it was an almost perfect holiday....but marred by corrupt fellow Malaysians.... ( or are they ??)
I cannot help it but write I must , about what I think are 2 scams that needs urgent attention by the relevant authorities.
First off is, on board our return flight from KK, the pretty flight attendants were selling AirAsia bus tickets for RM9 from LCCT to KL Sentral to ease the passengers burden of queuing-up to purchasing tickets for the bus itself.Very good I thought. Okay, then upon checking out of the terminal, we boarded the waiting bus and journeyed on to the city.
What pissed me off was this bus conductor who collected a ticket from the passenger sitting beside me and instead of tearing the ticket along the perforated line, returned a torned portion of another ticket to her and turned to the next passenger who hadn't purchased a ticket earlier and who wanted to pay cash, sold him, her ticket for RM 9 ! Does the operators or the airlines and bus companies know about this ?? Imagine - here an employee is "screwing" his employer ! And this is corruption !
Okay then we went on to the KL Sentral and disembarked around 2am. And there were easily 30 taxis waiting and drivers touting for passengers. So I confidently asked one to take me home and he asked if I bought a coupon !
Wait a minute here ! These are city taxis and so I asked him why I should buy coupons when he's got a meter ! And I again demanded he use the meter and he told me it was "midnight charges" of RM 18 per coupon from KL Sentral to Happy Gardens off Old Klang Road.
Damnit, I know it only cost RM 7 in the day, so even if it was past midnight that cost should be topped-up 50% and should read RM10.50 ! Right ??
So I angrily walked over to the main road in Brickfields about 100 meters away, lugging my bags and hailed another passing taxi, who I demanded put on the meter and he replied, the charge was 100% over and above the meter amount ! I told that taxi to fcuk_off !! By now I was really pissed, until about 10 minutes later came this taxi who actually took me home. The fare showed RM6.70 and when I got down, he said the fare was RM10. ! Now that is good !
My question is, why is the government wasting their precious time and OUR tax-payers money, with meter calibration being mandatory ruling of the Motor Vehicle Licencing Board and all that shit when these corrupt operators are blatantly abusing the system? Where are the authorities ? Who are the real players in these corrupt companies ? In the night there vermins seem to RULE the streets ! No check...No balance !!
And these taxis drivers are the front-liners, foreigners see of our country while being fleeced and they speak to others of the corruption we, you and I, are so helplessly soaked in ! Shame on you cheats and even more ashamed when asked by my foreign friends who had paid these "hijacked" coupon prices ! Somebody do something before we further sink in this already shitty cess-pool, please !!
There you go folks....an almost perfect,yes it was an almost perfect holiday....but marred by corrupt fellow Malaysians.... ( or are they ??)
*pic. courtesy of tv smith.(click on pic for better/bigger view!)
9 comments:
this coupon crap started i think from sunway shopping. anyone wanted to get a cab have to buy a coupon - cant get outside cab. isnt this daylight robbery and is it legit?
Hi Stephen,
Is it ok to say our taxi problems never endS ? Sadly, this is so. The authorities have no control over them lot. The taxi drivers will tell you themselves ‘you complain pun tak guna, itu JPJ tutup mata’ Well I have heard this before.
Last month end, did you read about the taxi man that charged a JPJ officer RM50.00 for a ride from Dynasty Hotel to JPJ-Wansa Maju ? He didn’t know it was a JPJ man and of course he was caught red handed and fined. But what about the incidents that happen to you and me every day ? Who looks into them ?
Few weeks ago I hailed a taxi from Promet Building at Sultan Ismail to KLCC at 8.30pm. He didn’t use the meter. So I asked him politely if his meter was faulty and he says “short distance no need meter, flat charge RM3.00”. Hmm… how to argue ? So I took the number down and next day rang JPJ to complain. I had to give all my details so they can take it as record (name, nric#, address) damn !!. Surely not everyone will agree to give full particulars, in many cases we prefer to remain anonymous isn’t ? Because of having to reveal our particulars, I am sure many of us are totally put-off, hence these taxi drivers are allowed to repeat their offences day after day.
Last week at 7.45pm, for the first time in my life taxi number HWC 5950 from Wangsa Maju LRT station cab queue rejected to take me to my Wangsa Maju Section-2 Unit at Block D !! How can this be, I was so puzzled. Long distance also they reject. Short distance also they reject. We are at their mercy isn’t ? This taxi had blasting music in his car and the only reason I can think why he rejected to drive me was because there was a young Malay girl behind me. My guess is that he chooses his passenger and not the destination.
Trust me, I am also as pissed as you are with our taxis. I am ashamed of our taxis when I compare them to the ones in Singapore.
JPJ cant you do something to stop all this unhealthy taxis from operating. If you don’t know how to put your foot down, why cant you learn from our neighboring countries ? Oh..sorry, you have to look after your pride too at our expenses huhh…??
Lastly, for anyone who wants to have a chat with the JPJ officers (to complain about your bitter encounter), this is the number that they provided for the public to ring.
Unit Aduan & Siasatan JPJ : 4020.2223 during office hours.
After office hours is : 4023.6470.
Stephen, just as much as you were pissed that morning, many of us are pissed just the same.
As for the RM9.00 cheats happening on board the busses.. I am sure driver and co-driver will share it equally and they go for a good mamak dinner. Corrupted minds are made out from corrupted dot..dot..dot...
Regards,
Yellow Rose of Texas
Bro, I got in around 3.00am and these touts started their crap! It cost me RM 11 the morning we got a cab from bangsar to sentral (RM2 for two pieces of luggage) and this guy wanted RM25 for the fare!
I spoke in Malay, and he thought since I was Malay, he would give me RM5 discount! Given the condition I was in, after the climb, I was in bno condition to walk to the main road! So I got jacked!
I say FCUK off to Nazri, as he is the cause of this!
Congrats! Beautiful pics.
Cheers!
(Please support The Malaysian Bloggers For Cheaper Beer & Cigarettes campaign. More info on my blog.)
what does the future hold for malaysia?
Dooms??
There are so much of uncertainty!
I am really thinking of bringing my family to migrate for good.
Is even harder to be husband now than during my father times!
With all this payrise for TNB head adding fuel to fire!
Nothing new. Back from Bangkok using Airasia for four of us. Book a budget cab through the counter.
Have to walk about 200 meters for the cab, when the cab driver try to put our luggage in the cab and cannot close the boot(partly because of the LPG tank).
The person in charge at the cab counter say we have to use the permium cab.
No choice but walk back to the counter that sold us the budget cab ticket to convert to permium.
It costs us extra $32.20 extra.
What a rip off????
As an old white haired foreigner it is assumed I am rich, and therefore 'fare' game.
First I get cab assertion he does not know Kenanga Point or Jln San Peng. I say that I do.
When he says 'no meter'. I get out and leave door wide open - specially unpopular with the grosser of figure.
I have been quoe3d RM20 from NPC to home, and then paid the next guy RM5.70! I could go on but won''t bother. It's an everyday thing.
Just as bad in Penang of course, and now I know the same in Sabah. No choice in Sabah two of us were charged RM15 from port View restaurant to resort (about 500 metres) via 7-11 behind resort. As I was unwell I caught two other cabs while in KK - no meter used by any and fares usurious.
Will it change? Of course not so long as majority of licenses - esp KLIA limos - are awarded to MPs and cronies. It is almost unfair taking it out on the drivers I know, but what choice do we have.
Do not even think of a cab from Bird Park or KLCC. I have been threatened with physical damage twice, both times when with a female visitor to Malaysia. These b's are a huge disincentive to visitors returning here.
T see how it should be done go no furtehr than Indonesia -- Blue Bird cabs excellent; clean, well driven, always charge meter and not a suggestion of tip.
Don't bother reporting crooked cabbies. It does nothing on three times I have, beyond wasting a lot of your time in the process.
Thank Dr M for whatever lousy experiences you've had with KL cabbies. During his ridiculously overstretched tenure as PM, he allowed MCA president (and Transport Minister) Ling Liong Sik a free hand in making deals with a handful of Umno cronies who then formed a syndicate and controlled all taxi licences. Every can driver I ever chatted with bitched about how hard it was to make ends meet because of these Umno racketeers. That's how DR M got his power - by bribing Umno cronies with opportunities to rip everybody else off. Mahathir boleh lah!
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