IN KUALA LUMPUR
MALAYSIA'S taxi drivers, who regularly draw the ire of their countrymen, have recently found themselves in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Last month, a two-week undercover check of more than 600 cabbies by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) revealed that a whopping 98 per cent of them flouted rules.
These included offences such as overcharging, not using the meter, or refusing to pick up passengers.
At the press conference, the chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) Markiman Kobiran threw up his arms and admitted that the board - which issues taxi licences - had run out of ideas on how to deal with rogue cabbies.
You don't have to go far to see these guys in action. At KLCC in the heart of town, scores of them wait outside the shopping centre, preying on unsuspecting tourists. Their favourite victims are Caucasians and Arabs.
Unfortunately, for those without a car - such as myself - taxis are an essential mode of transport. Kuala Lumpur's network of buses and subways is inadequate - and often involves far too many transfers - for travelling to many places.
In the numerous trips that I have taken in taxis here, only once did the driver willingly turn on the meter. Another one did so after I prompted him to.
How does one battle a system like that? You can't. I negotiate a fare, just like everyone else. Or else the cabbie just won't take you.
Malaysian cabbies typically ask me for anything from RM10 to RM20 for a ride within KL, depending on the distance. It's at least double the amount they would make from using the meter.
"Jam lah, boss," one driver told me when I took a trip to the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations one morning.
He asked for RM15. It should only have cost half that at most, considering that we got there in 10 minutes.
"No jam okay," I remarked as I reluctantly handed over the money. He gave me a sheepish smile.
The companies purportedly provide taxi booking services, but I have only once succeeded in booking a taxi. Most of the time, they'll make me wait for 15 minutes only to call me back and say there's no taxi available.
Now I no longer bother booking taxis through the companies. I have instead, through recommendations, gotten the personal numbers of about seven or eight cabbies, who I can call on for important assignments.
Negotiating taxi fares is nothing shocking. Cabbies in many developing countries, certainly in most Southeast Asian countries I've been to, do just that.
But Malaysia's taxis weren't always like this, a colleague told me. Once upon a time, taxi drivers would switch on the meter the minute you got in, just like in Singapore.
Malaysian Chinese Association vice-president Chua Soi Lek said in his blog two weeks ago that Malaysia's bad taxi service gives a poor image of the country, because it is often the first line of contact with foreigners.
"A lot of international conferences are held in KL and one of the major complaints is taxi service, which is described as horrendous," he wrote, adding that he himself had been fleeced by drivers.
But drivers defended their actions in the wake of CVLB's results. They asked for a review of the fare structure, saying that the flag-down fare of RM2 has not changed in more than a decade, and that this was the only way for them to make ends meet.
Poor taxi service is endemic in other ways.
The CVLB has always been seen as under Umno's control. The talk is that the board selectively disburses taxi licences to those with political connections.
With an estimated 25,000 cabbies in the Klang Valley alone, running a taxi company is a lucrative business and highly sought after. It would certainly score Umno political points if given to the right people.
Yet many of these company owners are accused of having little expertise in managing cabbies.
Critics say there is little quality control and poor cabbies aren't censured, compounding the problem of bad taxi service here.
Now there is another development. During the announcement of the Malaysia's new cabinet last week, Prime Minister Najib Razak dissolved the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development.
CVLB, which used to be under this ministry, is now without a home.
Transport minister and MCA president Ong Tee Keat has suggested that it be placed under his ministry's care. Others are also lobbying for it.
Whichever ministry it eventually goes to, the minister will be pressured to clean up the taxi services. He will also have his work cut out to do so.