Taxi reform required.

Malaysian taxi drivers are a national disgrace. They, singlehandedly, ensure that every visitor to Malaysia will be stolen from, cheated and predated upon. Since travellers have regular contact with taxi drivers, it is inevitable that they will go home, from Malaysia, with the impression that it is a nation of liars, cheats and thieves. Yet, this is not so, of course: it is the taxi drivers whose behaviour is unusually poor by the nation's standards - at least I am assuming so, based on my experience, so far.

It is negligent in the extreme and very short-sighted, not to do something serious about the level of dishonesty among taxi drivers, in Malaysia. You see, a nation's reputation is a great part of its natural capital. Without a good reputation for honesty, decency and fair dealing, Malaysia will compromise itself internationally. Now, of course, visitors to Malaysia may encounter fair dealing in many aspects of their visit - but if they frequently encounter dishonesty from taxi drivers, that can only leave a poor impression of the nation, in their minds. If Malaysia's leaders want Malaysia to "stand tall" in the world, they must, they absolutely MUST, stamp down on the dishonesty of Malaysian taxi drivers.

My experience the other day is typical of the situation in Malaysia. The situation here is a no-hoper for the customer. Whatever you do with the drivers, the customer loses out. I was in Bukit Bintang (KL's equivalent to Orchard Road). There were taxis parked everywhere. I approached about 20 of them and asked them if they would go "on the meter" - because I know that so many do not want to. To my displeasure, each and every one of the over twenty drivers I asked, REFUSED TO BE METERED FOR THE JOURNEY. They all quoted me fixed fares which were two to three times the price I knew was reasonable for the route. After ten minutes of asking drivers, I gave up on ALL the taxis parked in Bukit Bintang. Instead, I tried to flag one. After another ten minutes, I succeeded in flagging a cab. This one agreed to go on the meter, for which I was thankful. Little did I know that he would go off route, however.

Our driver took me on a giant detour through KL and its surroundings, though that wasn't clear at first. There were traffic jams, so I held my tongue, at first. However, after half an hour, on a journey that should have taken no more than fifteen minutes, I asked why I had seen no signs for our destination. "Yes, signs, have. Over there." he said, pointing into the distance.

I sat quietly waiting for these signs. After about another fifteen minutes, signs duly began appearing for our destination. However, he was travelling a route there, that I had never seen before.

In the end, the fifteen minute journey took one hour to complete and cost two or three times, the usual expected fare. My wife later made the same journey, at a third the time, and less than half the price.

So, here is another lesson about Malaysian taxi drivers. Whatever they do, they will almost always cheat you - especially if you are a foreigner. Either they offer you a fixed price well above market rate - or if you refuse that and find another driver willing to go on meter, they will take you on a giant detour and keep you in the cab several times longer than your journey actually requires. So, it is a case of heads you lose, tails you lose. Whatever happens, you will be cheated.

I should point out that I have met honest drivers. However, they are vastly outnumbered by the cheaters, liars and thieves who end up as cab drivers. I would estimate that, overall, about 70% of Malaysian taxi drivers are dishonest. In some areas, this reaches almost 100%, however. This is from the point of view of a foreigner. It is possible that they try to cheat foreigners more frequently, so this may not reflect a Malaysian's experience of taxi drivers - but it has certainly been my experience.

The situation, whilst problematic, is easily resolved, given political will. All that has to be done is for a penalty to be brought in against dishonest driving. If a taxi driver ever cheats a customer, in any way and that customer complains, then the driver should AUTOMATICALLY LOSE THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE. They should also be BANNED FROM BEING A TAXI DRIVER, FOR LIFE. Should these two penalties be put in place, drivers would soon start behaving themselves. The ban on being a taxi driver would mean they would lose their livelihoods. The ban on driving is particularly ironic, since it would force them to take taxis and suffer at the hands of their fellow cheaters. That would soon teach them what it is like.

Teams of anonymous taxi inspectors should take cabs at random, looking for cheaters. These should be both Asian and European inspectors, to elicit different responses from the drivers, who may be preferentially cheating one type of customer. A single offense should automatically result in the two penalties being applied. There should be no leeway for the judge to decide on clemency, the penalties should be mandatory.

Were this done, Malaysian drivers would soon start behaving honestly. If this is not done, Malaysia will continue to mar its own reputation by allowing drivers to lie to, cheat and steal from every foreign customer they encounter.

I hope someone will listen and do something about it. The present taxi situation is a national disgrace.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
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A tale of two taxi drivers

Singapore's taxi drivers are famous for many things: for disappearing when you just need them, so that you will be forced to call them out; for taking circuitous routes whenever they think they can get away with it - and for simply not knowing where they are going in one of the world's geographically simplest cities.

I wish to add two more things they should be known for, so that those who come to take a cab, when they have to, might look out for them.

Today we had an early birthday party for Tiarnan. It was at Orchid Country Club. There was no other way to get there, except by cab - so we broke our "no cab" rule, and took a cab there and a cab back.

I found the behaviour of the drivers quite surprising, given the fact that fares have already risen excessively.

The outward bound cab: SHA 3666J, already had the metre running before we got in. It showed 3 dollars on the metre. It should have showed $2.80, so it had been running long enough to have rolled up already. It wasn't the quantum of the deceit that annoyed me, it was the fact he would try to do this, even though the fares have already risen dramatically. It was the principle that a price is a price, and nothing should be done to inflate it.

I confronted him as he got out to see to a problem with the boot.

"Why was the metre running before we got in?"

"Eh?"

"Why was the metre running before we got in?"

"Sorry, I no understand English."

"You understand metre:" his face registered the word, "why is the metre running?"

"OK, OK."

When we got in, he seemed to adjust the metre as if to restart it. He didn't seem to know how to use it and had great trouble adjusting it.

After he had finished fiddling with it, it still showed a sum above the starting fare. He hadn't changed it at all.

Communicating with him was such a struggle - and he was so clearly not going to be honest about it, that I gave up and resolved to complain later.

The driver on the way home tried another trick: one that was almost funny to watch, so farcical was it. His cab was SHA 4441J.

When we stopped at our house, he didn't stop the metre. He fiddled with the gear stick. He adjusted the steering. He looked at the metre. It still hadn't changed. So he fiddled with his ignition key. It still hadn't changed. So, then he looked out of the window, into the distance, as if struck by a great thought that needed attention. (No doubt it went a bit like this: "I must get that extra 20 cents.")

So, I told him: "Stop the metre."

He didn't. He just waited.

"Stop the metre."

He didn't. He just waited.

"Stop the metre...don't take six hours to do so, like all the other drivers!"

Finally, he reached out very slowly, to stop the metre. No doubt he hoped it would change before his finger touched the key.

He said nothing. He didn't acknowledge his intent. Except in his face: that seemed to say..."This passenger is cheating me out of my fair, traditionally entitled, overcharge!"

I haven't taken a cab in a very long time. In fact, it is at least a couple of weeks since I last took one. The new fares struck me as unfair, so I gave taxis up, as a bad habit. They are a bit like cigarettes - only they cause a cancer of the pocket.

Now that I have sampled the new service, I can say that the drivers are behaving even more dishonestly than before. They are not satisfied with fares that can mean a doubling of the charges. They have to try to squeeze more out of every passenger. Maybe this is because there are fewer passengers.

So, if you take a cab, check that the meter does not start until you actually board. Often the meter will already have been running for a while. When you get to your destination, note whether the driver has stopped the meter. Often they won't - they will distract you until the fare has suitably increased. Some of them never stop it all and will just bill you the highest amount it reaches before you manage to get out of the cab.

It seems as if taking cabs are now even more fun than they used to be. It is now a battle of the wits between driver and passenger: the driver trying every ruse he can to secure a higher fare, the passenger trying his or her best not to get ripped off. I suppose that is called public entertainment.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and six months, and Tiarnan, twenty-three months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

You'd think they would be satisfied with official robbery, without adding a little private robbery of their own.