Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on 18 Aug that his country hopes to introduce cross-border ride-hailing with Singapore to “increase connectivity”. But is it really about increasing connectivity? A month ago, there was a crackdown on foreign drivers illegally operating Private Hire Vehicles in Singapore. You would expect Singaporeans to support the move, but our very own comedian Hossan Leong thinks otherwise.
Hossan Leong appealed to our Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow to explore practical solutions that better serve commuters. Mr Siow responded, saying that Singapore is currently discussing cross-border transport solutions with Malaysia that will serve the needs of commuters and taxi and PHV drivers. But let’s get one thing clear. Such services already exist. It is completely legal for appropriately licensed private Malaysian vehicles to ferry Malaysian passengers across the border, provided that they either return to Malaysia empty or carry the same passengers back. Unfortunately, there was practically no enforcement in this area, so many of these Malaysian drivers went into a feeding frenzy, picking up passengers all over Singapore before going home without having to pump expensive petrol and fulfill a three quarter tank rule.
That’s the kind of unfair competition our PHV drivers have been facing all this while and the crackdown on them is long overdue. Interestingly, the Malaysian side mentioned 2 key issues. One is the livelihood of (errant) Malaysian drivers and the other is how these (errant) Malaysian drivers can “improve connectivity” across the border. Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on 18 Aug that his country hopes to introduce cross-border ride-hailing with Singapore to “increase connectivity”. But is it really about increasing connectivity? Will having more cars crossing the border on an already congested causeway improve the connectivity? It’s all about opening a pandora’s box to justify and legalise foreign drivers who wish to make a killing in Singapore at the expense of our local drivers, isn’t it?
Let’s take a step back and give them the benefit of the doubt. Our experts say that for cross-border ride-hailing services between Malaysia and Singapore to become a reality, a slew of regulatory and cost differences as well as enforcement mechanisms will have to be worked out. If enforcement doesn’t work, our local PHV drivers’ will be jeopardised. If enforcement works and the playing field is levelled, then the Malaysian PHV drivers may not have any incentive to do this minimally profitable route. What about improving connectivity if that’s really your intention?