The adviser for the Big Blue Taxi service, Shamsubahrin Ismail, told reporters that 70% of drivers have been blacklisted by financial institutions. He described them as debt-ridden, with poor financial planning skills. He then elaborated that seven out of 10 of taxi drivers prefer to spend their money at night club and karaoke spots, when not on the clock.
Whoa. Hope this guy doesn’t need a ride anywhere, anytime soon. Well, there’s always Grab or Uber, right?
Ah, he also said that 20,000 of those who had been blacklisted were now also working for the e-hailing apps. Safe to say that Mr Shamsubahrin will be driving himself, or walking to any further engagements from now on.
At a press conference in Ampang today, he added that “some of them are unfaithful to their wives and spend more money (on leisure) than they should.”
Providing no evidence to back statements, but we’re a bit beyond body of proof at this point, he told reporters that some had even borrowed money from loan sharks, aka ah long.
“They then start cheating passengers to make a quick buck (so they can repay their loans),” he said.
The comments stem from the robbery, and subsequent miscarriage, of a woman by her Uber driver and his accomplice last week. Traveling from Mid Valley to Puchong, she had a knife pulled on her, and her valuables demanded, before being thrown out of the vehicle.
He’s proposed that in the future, taxi stands need to be spruced up, along with coupons and prepaid e-tickets, so that customers will feel inclined to use them.
Great ideas, but what’s the plan for fixing that whole ‘70% of drivers can’t keep RM20 in their pocket without spending it on a GRO at a karaoke joint’ problem?
