Taxi boss apologises for calling Indonesians, Gojek users 'poor'

Big Blue Taxi founder Shamsubahrin Ismail has apologised after calling Indonesia and users of the Gojek motorcycle taxi service "poor."

"I had no intention to insult the Indonesian people. Both Indonesia and its people are in my heart," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Shamsubahrin expressed his wish that his apology would go some way towards convincing Gojek riders to cancel a planned demonstration in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta.

Igun Wicaksono, president of a national e-hailing riders association, was quoted as saying that Shamsubahrin's remarks demeaned their profession, and that they would send a letter of objection to Malaysian ambassador Zainal Abidin Bakar.

Igun added that a demonstration will be held on Sept 3 if no public apology was made.

This was in response to a video featuring Shamsubahrin objecting to Gojek's entry into Malaysia.

In the video that went viral in Indonesia, he described Gojek as a service that is "only for poor people, like in Jakarta, Thailand, India and Cambodia."

The taxi boss was also quoted as saying that the success of Gojek in Indonesia was due to the country's high poverty rate.

At today's press conference, Shamsubahrin also said he would not oppose the revival of local motorcycle taxi service Dego Ride, adding that ridesharing services from foreign countries would have a detrimental effect on the country's income.

“At least local products such as Dego Ride will have more control over the companies, as opposed to foreign products which can uproot and return to their countries if problems arise.

"Income generated through the public transport system from foreign companies will also flow out of the country," he added.

Earlier, Dego Ride called on the government to prioritise local players after providing the green light to introduce motorcycle taxi services in the country.

Dego Ride was first introduced in 2016 with fares as low as RM2.50 for the first 3km around the Klang Valley.

However, in January 2017, then-deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said he had never issued a license for a taxi service using a motorcycle, as it was in violation of the country's road laws.

On Aug 21, the cabinet in principle agreed to the proposal by Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman to bring in Gojek.

The Transport Ministry has been given a month to submit a report on the possible implementation of the service.

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