The motorcycle ride-hailing issue has been revived again by the Youth and Sports Minister, just a year after Transport Minister Anthony Loke said no to motorcycle taxi e-hailing service, Dego Ride, over safety concerns.
"We will never legalise Dego Ride in Malaysia because we disagree with any types of ride-sharing services that involve motorcycles.
In Malaysia, there are too many accidents involving bikes that we just can’t take the risk. We will send enforcement officers to go after Dego Ride," said Loke after a Cabinet meeting late last year.
In fact, even the former Barisan Nasional government had a similar stance and issued summonses to Dego Ride's riders. In 2017, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said that the government wanted to emulate developed nations, where cities are more environmentally-friendly and do not have motorcycle taxis.
The Transport Ministry then also pointed out that in 2016, motorcyclists contributed to 62.7% of deaths on the road, citing data from the Royal Malaysian Police. It added that the risk of fatality and being seriously injured when one travels on a motorcycle is also 48 times higher compared with travelling on a bus and 6.2 times higher than in a car over the same distance.
But now the Youth and Sports Minister says he wants to bring Go-Jek into the country to help young motorcyclists make a steady income.
YB Syed Saddiq even brought the founder of Go-Jek to see the PM and YB Anthony Loke, as he believes the move could create hundreds of thousands of job opportunities for motorcyclists, as well as help boost the businesses of small entrepreneurs.
Go-Jek is an Indonesian logistics company based in Jakarta, which allows consumers to use their services through an app.
Do you think Malaysia Baru is ready for motorcycle ride-hailing services?
By: Irene Chooi
