Rais, Your Cabbies Are Crooks And Scumbags

Hantu Laut

I just returned from Taiwan a week ago and was amazed how fast the country had developed since my last visit there some 30 years ago.

What really impressed me is the cleanliness, functionality and efficiency of the towns and cities, the efficient public transport system and the helpfulness of the Taiwanese people. The country is now as clean and as efficient as Japan was. Everything is spic and span, no touts, no hustlers, no prostitutes and transvestites hanging around street corners and taxis are everywhere. 

In the seventies Taiwan was behind Malaysia and Taipei was one of the fleshpot capitals of the world.Today, the GDP per capita is $38,500.00 and the role has reversed, Kuala Lumpur is becoming the fleshpot of Asia joining the likes of Bangkok and Manila.

If you are a visitor to KL try take an early morning jog along Jalan Bukit Bintang, you be surprised at the array of services available even at  6.30 in the morning. You'll be propositioned by pimps, transvestites, prostitutes and purveyors of massage services of all kind. Not that there is anything wrong with that but its shows we are caught in an economic glum and middle income trap.

The one week I was in Taiwan no taxi driver have tried to cheat or take me for a joy ride to pump up the meter as in my own capital city, Kuala Lumpur.

For all said and done, would I go back to Taiwan? No. it's a country with very little history, except for its National Museum, there were nothing much to see and money and modern technology  has scarred its landscape with miles and miles of elevated highways.

Malaysia is still a beautiful country and among all the states, Sabah is the prettiest of them all.

Here, our Minister of Information, Communication and Culture Rais Yatim is talking through his ass saying our cabbies are our nation's social envoys.He said it was necessary to educate some of out taxi drivers and owners to enable them to have good opinion of things.

Well! Mr Yatim I have many bad things to tell you about your cabbies and certainly have no good opinion of these scumbags.

The trouble with our minister, they talked a lot and do very little to make changes. As far as I am concerned the whole taxi fraternity in this country should be overhauled and revamped and every taxi driver must go to a special school to educate them on the correct social etiquette. They must also have firm knowledge of the geography of the city they work in. At the end of the course they should sit for a written and oral examination to test their aptitude. Only those who passed should be issued with a permit to drive a taxi.

The KL taxi drivers are one of the worst in the world, no lack of deplorable disposition, crooked, crude,  and rude,  giving this country a bad name. 

Just a few days ago an American tourist was robbed and raped by a taxi driver . There have been a number of lady passengers raped by KL taxi drivers and till today the government have not done anything to clamp down on this kind of menace to the public by taxi drivers some of whom are drug addicts and sex fiends.

Here, another nut-case, Chairman of SPAD Syed Hamid Albar urged the public to ensure the taxis they boarded exhibited the driver's name card on the dashboard.

These kind of leaders travelled all over the world but keep their eyes shut. 

In most civilised countries the driver's photo, permit number and other details is prominently displayed behind the backrest of the front seat that allows passenger a close and clear view of the tag.

In Malaysia where donkeys are given the job, a small tag is placed on the dashboard which surely makes it hard for the passenger to make out. Most passengers sit at the back.

To Rais Yatim I must say I have had many bad experiences with KL taxi drivers and most if not all are crooks and scumbags much to be loathed.

Kuala Lumpur is becoming crime capital of the world and run by a mayor and a police chief who take no pride in making their city a clean and safe place for visitors. 

Rais and Hamid Albar, don't just talked, do something concrete to change your fucked up cabbies into humans.

Read below what shame they bring to this country.

Tourist, cabbie in bloody brawl over high fare

I Just Met A Very Racist Chinese !

Yesterday, I arrived KLIA from KK and my wife from Phnom Penh, after visiting our daughter and grandchildren there.My wife's plane arrived 20 minutes earlier 
but she said she would wait for me so we can take the same taxi to our hotel.
Read more.

Are KL Cabbies Worse Than Dirty Toilets?

Hantu Laut

This is one rare occassion that I agree with Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

Yes, I agree the cabbies in Kuala Lumpur are more offensive and worse than dirty toilets and he needs not apologise to this bunch of extortionists.I have personal experience, not once, but on many occasions, the uncouth behaviour and crookedness of KL taxi drivers.They are disgrace to the nation.

A report here shows that in spite the recent increase in taxi fare the KL taxi drivers haven't mend their ways.

At least, dirty toilet only stinks, it doesn't cheat you.

I wrote this more than a year ago on one of my visits to Kuala Lumpur.

Hello ! I Live Here Before:A Taste Of KL Taxi Driver's Hospitality

Hantu Laut

A hazy view of downtown KL from KL Tower


In spite of the sky scraping towers and gleaming high rise buildings and ultra modern and civilised looking city, there is an ugly side to this city that most locals were probably not aware of, or chose to ignore.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that KL has one of the worst taxi drivers in the world, even taxi drivers in some less-developed countries are far better mannered than this bunch of loathsome morons.

Be they Malay, Indian or Chinese, they all behaved the same way.The few good ones have become the exception. Cheating, intimidation and rudeness had become trademarks of the profession.

The ill-mannered, crooked and loathsome taxi drivers of Kuala Lumpur would never ceased to cheat, offend and insult you. 

Cheating, refusal to use the meter and rudeness are rampant and well organised.Their intimidating behaviour not only offensive to tourists but also to out of town Malaysian like me. If you looked foreign they think you are a tourist and fair game for ripping-off.

As frontliners they have given the country a scary image and this 'Truly Asian' nation where being polite is part of the culture, is not what it  supposedly is as in Tourism Malaysia's commercial.




In KL if you hail a taxi the driver would first asked you where your are going and would than decide whether to take you, or not, or quote an exorbitant fare to discourage or try cheat you.

If he does take you than the 'Teksi Bermeter' sign atop his car become meaningless, he would not switch on his meter and would try to haggle price with you and more often than not you are the loser.

There are some who would switch on the meter and take you on a joy ride before delivering you to your destination.That's what happened to my wife and I a couple of days ago.

We boarded a taxi at Sungei Wang Plaza and asked the driver to take us to our apartment at the Ascott near Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a good walking distance if one dare attempt a walk in the blazing afternoon sun. Instead of going straight down Jalan Tun Ismail my crooked taxi driver thinking we are foreign tourists decided to turn into the jammed Jalan Bukit Bintang.

Realising what he was trying to do I asked him in Malay why he took this road instead of going straight down Sultan Ismail and turned right into Jalan P.Ramlee which was much nearer.... his answer was he wouldn't be able to make a turn to our place from Tun Ismail. I almost shouted you bloody moron! You think I am a fool! I decided to keep my silence and see what he does next.

Upon sensing my annoyance he decided to turn into a back lane, the infamous red light 'lorong' (lane) of Bukit Bintang that connects with Jalam Imbi.

The idiot had taken us full circle back to where we first started at Jalan Sultan Ismail and went straight down to Jalan P.Ramlee and finally on to Jalan Pinang to our apartment.He did exactly what he should have done in the first place.

Three days earlier my daughter, her husband and two of my grandchildren came over from Phnom Penh to join us for a family holiday and wanted to take a taxi from Modesto at Jalan P.Ramlee to KLCC, which is a five-minute walk, but since it was raining they decided to take a cab.

If there is anything more absurd and one that can make your blood boil is the sheer uncalled for rudeness and uncouth behaviour.The driver wanted RM20 for the short journey but my daughter refused to board his taxi. Guess what come next? He made a scene shouting at the top of his voice and giving some vulgar signs at my daughter.

One evening my wife and I was going to dinner at one of the restaurants at Starhill and instead of driving the car loaned to us by my brother-in-law, we decided it would be more convenient to take a cab and asked the doorman to get us one.We boarded the taxi having forgotten our previous experience. The driver told us it's RM15 and that quickly brought me to my senses and this time I actually shouted at the driver to stop for us to disembark.He unhappily reduced the price to RM5. We weren't ready what come next.The reduced fare turned into reckless driving trying to intimidate us with violent swinging of the vehicle whizzing through traffic to ensure us a most uncomfortable ride. I almost wanted to break the bastard's neck, if only I could without getting into trouble with the law.

The government minister advising passengers to note down details of errant taxi drivers and asking them to lodge report is as many have found out, a waste of time, nothing will come out of it.

Refusal to allow increase in taxi fare which taxi drivers have been asking for repeatedly but denied by the authority was the reason for the nasty and crooked behaviour of taxi drivers and in retaliation taxi drivers gang-up to show their displeasure by fleecing their passengers.

Across the causeway a taxi driver could face serious action including losing his licence if he refused to stop (except changing shift) to pick up passengers.

There, the government not only talked business, they also meant business.