S'gor state reps defend ‘discriminatory’ PJ bus fare for foreigners

Several Selangor state assemblypersons have defended the fares being introduced to the PJ City Bus service in Petaling Jaya after detractors claimed the policy is discriminatory.

Kinrara assemblyperson Ng Sze Han told Malaysiakini that the implemented fares were meant to give priority to Malaysians, similar to how government schools and hospitals operate.

“We never stopped foreigners from using the service. This is similar to schools and hospitals where foreigners are required to pay a minimum fee for the services (provided),” he told Malaysiakini.

Bandar Utama assemblyperson Jamaliah Jamaluddin also echoed Ng’s sentiment, further explaining that the charge was meant to be implemented several weeks before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, but was delayed.

Meanwhile, the Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung is withholding his comments for the time being.

He told Malaysiakini he is set to meet the city’s mayor Mohamad Azhan Md Amir “as soon as possible” to discuss the matter and would not comment until after the meeting.

Last week, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) announced via a Facebook post that beginning Jan 15, an RM0.90 charge will be imposed on foreigners using the bus service. Malaysian citizens can still use the service for free.

The council stated that all PJ City Bus riders between the ages of 18 and 59 years old must scan a QR code through a Citizen e-payment application CEPat.

Riders under 18 years old or above 60 years old, however, are required to show their identity cards (IC) or passports.

Claims of discrimination against the migrant working class first sparked when migrant rights group North-South Initiative director Adrian Pereira took to Twitter to raise the issue.

Think tank Galen Centre’s chief executive officer Azrul Mohd Khalib also took to social media to lambast the “unjustified, petty, and unjust” charges, claiming it merely takes money away from vulnerable groups. 

“Foreign workers contribute to Selangor’s economy, just like Malaysians, and are its (the economy’s) backbone.

“RM30,000 is barely anything to the state government but it takes away money from vulnerable people,” he said in a Twitter post.

Azrul was referring to a 2021 report where RM33,000 was accumulated within a month by charging foreigners who used the Selangor Smart Bus services.

Similar to PJ City Bus, Selangor Smart Bus riders are required to use the CEPat app, with foreigners between the ages 18 and 59 being charged RM0.90 and locals riding for free. 

Meanwhile, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari’s special officer Jay Jay Denis previously told The Vibes that MBPJ was not trying to profit from the fares imposed, adding that it would not come close to the costs spent on the service.

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