ON Dec 23, 2007, at the entrance of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre facing Jalan Pinang, I saw with my own eyes the ferocity and unbelievable arrogance of a taxi driver.

This taxi driver was parked inside the KLCC compound. He was obstructing traffic but he refused to budge even though the security guard blew his whistle many times.

He stubbornly refused to drive out to the taxi stand just a few metres away on Jalan Pinang.

Then, a couple of foreigners walked past and headed for the taxi stand.

The taxi driver stopped them and started to negotiate the fare, oblivious to the traffic held up behind him and the waving guard.

After a while, the couple, who must have been distracted by the hooting and whistling behind them, refused to board his taxi.

This driver then leapt out of his taxi and rushed to the guard in an aggressive manner, screaming obscenities.

He did not punch the guard but he created enough havoc and noise, so much so that the crowd around, which included many tourists, stared at the scene in disbelief.

All the Malaysians in the crowd must have felt an acute sense of embarrassment and shame at this taxi driver’s actions in front of the foreigners.

He refused to wait at the taxi stand, parked illegally inside the KLCC compound, blocked traffic, tried to negotiate the fare without using the meter and acted like a gangster when he failed to get his customer.

Whatever bad and degrading image he has projected to the foreigners was immaterial to him.

This is the syndrome afflicting the Malaysian taxi system because these drivers think they have the right to do as they please.

After all the promises made by the authorities to clamp down on these gangsters masquerading as taxi drivers, the only conclusion is that in the end, everything was just, well, as usual, “talk only”.

W.Y.M., Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – January 10, 2008