Ismadi Noordin, a cabbie who speaks impeccable English, said an ability to communicate in the language would be a “definite advantage” now that Grab and Uber would be legalised under the government’s Taxi Industry Transformation Programme (TITP).
“Sadly, some refuse to learn,” he said. “Proficiency in English is a competitive advantage, but how do you encourage them to take up the language? Their attitudes need to change too.”
He added that the many challenges of the job had turned many taxi drivers into boorish characters.
“Taxi drivers have been left to fend for themselves for far too long,” he said. “So the culture they have been cultivating all these years has made them become what most of them are today. I’m sorry to say this, but most of them – not all – are rude, crude, ruthless and unethical.”
Another taxi driver, Ali Hanafiah, said it was a shame that the government would “allow the taxi industry to die” by legalising Uber and Grab. Nevertheless, he added, taxi drivers had to find a way to fight the competition.
“At least if we learn to speak English well, then we’ll have a slight advantage. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will be good enough.”
A taxi driver who only wanted to be known as Uncle Rahman said he had long pushed for the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to set up an institution to motivate taxi drivers to improve their image and to become better informed about the rules and regulations that came with their job.
“SPAD should make it so that taxi drivers who want to renew their licences have to attend this institution, where they will have to learn not only English but perhaps even a third language,” he said.
He said SPAD had not done much for taxi drivers. “They can help us improve, but they are instead paving the way for Uber and Grab to kill us.”
However, Big Blue Taxi Services founder Shamsubahrin Ismail was of the opinion that learning English was not crucial for taxi drivers.
“When foreigners come, taxi drivers just use Google Translate to understand what they want and this helps them a lot,” he said.
Shamsubahrin said there were other ways in which taxi drivers could fight Uber and Grab. He revealed that he would, on Sept 15, launch an application that would encourage Uber and Grab drivers to join the existing taxi industry.
He didn’t give details about the application, saying only that it would be “all about transformation and benefits to drivers, whether they come from the existing taxi industry or Grab or Uber”.
Last month, Samsubahrin proposed that taxi providers follow his example in running the business, saying it would benefit drivers.
Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, he disclosed that he paid his drivers a fixed salary of RM1,500 a month and a commission of 10% from their daily takings.
He also said his company bore all taxi maintenance costs. Furthermore, the taxi driver gets ownership of the vehicle he drives after completing his five-year contract.
Recently, the New York Times reported that new rules in New York had eliminated the requirement for taxi drivers to take an English proficiency examination.
It said the test for a taxi licence was being made available in several languages to accommodate non-English speakers.
The report stated that the sponsors of a City Council bill to remove the English test argued that the requirement was a barrier for would-be drivers who were immigrants.