KINIBIZ A state of limbo is not the best state to start the year in, but for ridesharing services Uber and GrabCar in Malaysia, this was the state in which the new year was ushered in. Of course, the state of limbo refers to the question of whether or not the ridesharing services are legal, with taxi associations now upping the ante of the fight to taking legal action against the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad), with claims that the commission has been negligent in declaring the ridesharing services illegal.

On the other hand, Germany ushered in the new year knowing that Uber is now only operating in two of its cities, following the retreat of Uber from Frankfurt, where the service had been operating for 19 months before calling it quit. How is it that Uber is thriving in Malaysia, yet fizzling out in Germany?

In all of this, Tiger would first like to say that there is no such thing as a cast-iron rice bowl, and no one at all should feel entitled to one. As such, is it not time for those taxi drivers who feel oh so slighted that this is what competition does? Either accept it, and take it as a benchmark to better yourself, or do what some people are doing and whine, throw tantrums, and generally blame everyone but themselves.

Another thing to make clear is that the legislators in Germany were fast and efficient, and were clear about their duty. Is the service complying with the rules and regulations set in place? No. Did the service attempt to approach us for discussion in the beginning?

No. Well, this, ladies and gentlemen, is illegal, and we should declare it as such. Note that UberPop, the equivalent of UberX here, was banned last March in Germany as it did not comply with the regulations set forth by the German authorities.

So, all right, taxi associations do have a case for putting Spad under the microscope for negligence, but the question remains: even if Spad bans Uber and GrabCar, would people choose to support the taxi associations?

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This article was written by Xavier Kong.