What a joke ...

Categories: Malaysia

What a joke? The Penang State Local Government, Traffic Management, Information and Community Relations Committee chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said that the state government's hands are tied and it cannot enforce rules to resolve public transportation woes on the island. [The Star Online Jan 3, 2006]. “The state will co-ordinate and come up with proposals, other than that, our hands are tied.” He said this following the recent queries and grumbles regarding the poor state of public transport in Penang.

The public transport in Penang had certainly deteriorated to a very sorry state. Previously when it was under the leadership of the then Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu, the public transport was superb. There were definite bus routes that ply the main roads in the City and the outskirts. Most of the tourist attractions were also served. Then there were four bus company - the City Council bus, the Lim Seng Seng bus, the Penang Yellow Bus and the Hin Company bus - each generally serving a specific part of Penang island. Granted there were still large housing estates that had no bus service, but generally if you walk to the main road, there will be public transport available. The buses were not allow to deviate from a set route with a fairly constant time interval (albeit a long one at times). Even if you do not own a car and wanted to travel to the Botanical Gardens or the Penang Hill, there was always a bus assigned to these tourist spots.

How times have changed. Now the four bus companies had be dissolved. The Penang public transport is made up of private bus companies running the mini-buses. The buses were designated numbers indicating the route to be taken. However now the bus routes seemed very limited. Most of the tourist spots seemed to have been left high and dry. This model had been used for the last few years However recently complaints had been plentiful and includes that of dirty buses (the buses of previous years were clean except for the City Council buses which were still clean compared to today's standard), buses not following assigned routes, not stopping at assigned bus stops and the long waiting time.

Recently there was a glimse as why the bus service is so poor in Penang. Apparently, these mini-buses paid the bus companies for providing the 'public service' and any extras will be pocketed. Therefore there is no such things as company policy or company guidelines or timetables. Each bus driver is essentially his own boss. This meant that assigned routes are just 'guidelines'. As each bus driver had to eke out a living, the temptation to deviate from non-profitable routes is ever present. No wonder there are so many complaints about the bus service.

Now a clearer picture had emerged. The office bearer who is supposed to be in-charge of public transport in Penang said that the problem lies with the Federal government agency and there is nothing that the Penang state government can do! What is it that the state government under Dr Lim can do that the current state government under Dr Koh cannot? Has the constitution changed so much that the state government is rendered useless? If the current state government does not have the power to change things in the state, why have a state government at all? Might as well cut down expenditure and save the national Budget! Sure you cannot control private bus company, but certainly you can come out with other solutions - maybe re-introduce the City Council bus, or create a new company that is under the jurisdiction of the State. Office bearers are paid to solve problems and not to give excuse! This is reminescence of the former Chief Minister of Melaka, Rahim Tambi Chik who said that he was not responsible for a dam that had dried up because he was not in-charge of the dam! A bunch of clowns...

By the way, if you happen to visit Penang and needed to take the bus, don't try to look for the bus-stop sign as most bus stops have no such sign. Just look for a group of people who are all looking anxiously in the same direction. That will be where the bus stop is!