Exposed: Why Malaysian taxi drivers do not use meters?

In a chance conversation with a taxi driver on my way home from Subang Jaya, I managed to discover the reason why taxi drivers do not use meters. Partly selfish, I was also trying to dig why on earth is he charging me RM15 for a trip that would only cost RM5.

(We spoke in Manglish, mainly in Malay with bits of Chinese and English. Translated dialogue included. Foul words are censored for genuine reasons.)

The conversation goes:

Driver: Lu Cina ke?

(Are you Chinese?)

Winson: Yes.

Driver: Lu sekarang kerja mana?

(Where are you working now?)

Winson: I student.

(I am a student.)

Driver: Lu study kat mana?

(Where are you studying?)

Winson: Dekat Damansara sana.

(Near Damansara.)

*** Awkward silence. I am adamant in knowing why he charged me so highly.**

Winson: Hi uncle…. I nak tanya

(Hi uncle, I want to ask..)

Driver: I nampak macam uncle ke?

(Do I look like an uncle?)

Winson: Ok sorry, abang…

(I am sorry, brother..)

Continuing…….

Winson: Eh brother, I realise ah taxi driver sekarang tak pakai meter. Setengah pakai setengah tak pakai. Mengapa ah? Tak cukup makan ke ini TAXI DRIVER YAND TAK GUNA meter?

(Hi brother, I realised taxi drivers nowadays do not use the meter. Some of them do, some of them don’t. Why? To those useless drivers drivers who find the meter useless, aren’t they making enough?)

Driver: You kena faham. Setiap hari ini teksi kita sewa RM50. You jalan tak jalan they don’t care. Janji, setiap hari kena bayar. You kira la, satu bulan 30 hari, sekali one month berapa? Ah, ada satu hari off, jadi 29 times RM50, berapa?

(You have to understand. We rent these taxis for RM50 a day. Whether you drive or not, they don’t care. You still have to pay the rent. You can count for yourself, how much the rent would come up to in a 30-day month? Fine, there is one day break. So, how much is 29 times Rm50 ?)

Winson: RM1450???

Driver: Lagi kena bayar bil, air, elektrik , rumah, makan…. I cakap ah itu bujang tak boleh survive walau pun RM1000. I ada bini dan 2 anak.

(There’re still bills to pay i.e water, electricity, mortgage payments, food. Even the singles cannot survive with RM1000 a month. I have a wife and two children.)

Winson: Itu Persatuan Teksi tak ada tolong ke? Tak ada influence ke?

(Aren’t the Taxi Drivers Association doing anything? Aren’t they influential to change things?)

Driver: Mana ada… sekarang semua mahal… makan mahal… dulu saya makan wantan mee.. I ingat baru RM3.30. Sekarang RM3.80. You fikir la… itu makan mana akan turun… Lagi, kalau you tak suka, itu bos boleh cakap ‘tak payah makan lah, saya ada lagi banyak customer’. *Chinese foul word* Itu government ah… tak boleh la… aih…

(No. Everything is expensive now. Food is expensive. Last time, when I ate wantan noodles, it was only RM3.30. Now, it’s RM3.80. Think for yourself, will the price of food ever come down? Plus, if you don’t like it, the boss can always say ‘Then, don’t eat, I have other customers who are willing to pay.’ *Chinese foul word* Our government is hopeless….)

Winson: Betul. Tak ada jalan ke untuk selesai kan ini?

(It’s true that food prices will never come down. Isn’t there a way to solve this?)

Driver: Tak ada lah. *then he continued* Itu government mesti ada standard. Mesti strict. Kalau cakap pakai meter, mesti semua pakai meter. Kita punya government aih….. sini boleh pusing sana boleh pusing…

(No, there isn’t any way……. The government must have a standard. They must be strict. If there is a ruling for usage of meter, it must be enforced for all. Our government is malleable.)

Winson: Betul.

(Correct.)

Driver: Ini.. kalau government nak bikin, mesti boleh punya….

(If our government is strong-willed, any problem can be solved.)

Itu orang kaya mana faham kita middle class punya susah… lower class susah…

(The rich will never understand the difficulties of the middle and low class workers.)

Susah la….. lagi itu world economy… US dollar jatuh lagi… saya dengar 2009 dan 2010 akan lebih susah la… ah…. susah…

(It’s difficult. Plus, with the world economy crisis. The US dollar is dropping. I heard in 2009 and 2010 it would be worse. …. It’s difficult.)

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The conversation ended when I arrived at my stop. Some SEDITIOUS and SENSITIVE content have been omitted due to insuitability of content for publish.

In short: Why Malaysian drivers do not use meters?

1) The income is insufficient due to high expense. Thus, we need to overcharge.

2) The government is not doing anything. Thus, we need to overcharge.

3) Man is never satisfied. Thus, we overcharge.

I agree with some of the points raised i.e low wages, high expenditure.. but I disagree that taxi drivers have the right to overcharge. Hopefully, you would see things from the lens of Malaysian txi drivers. Indeed, if they make enough, they would aspire to be the best taxi driver ever, if the government would only intercede and strengthen enforcement.

*To supplement his income, Driver is a lorry driver at day, and taxi driver at night. Driver thought that being a taxi driver would bring more income but he was wrong. Driver still cannot make enough even with his income from driving lorries and taxi.

EXPOSED!