Risks are highest when travelling in charter buses

Focus Malaysia

05-08-2025

INITIALLY, there were five main types of vehicle permits for public buses. They were bas berhenti-henti (stage bus), bas ekspres (express bus), bas persiaran (excursion bus), bas sekolah (school bus), and bas kilang renamed bas pekerja (factory bus renamed worker bus).
In the mid-1990s, the issuance of permits for excursion buses, popularly known as tour buses, was taken over by the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry from the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) under the Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Ministry.
But later, CVLB began to issue a new class of permit to circumvent the loss of not being able to issue tour bus permits, calling it bas catar (charter bus).
But for many decades, tour buses were easily available for charter, and stage bus companies also made available their pool buses for charter, in addition to luxury school and factory buses that were installed with air-conditioning, although they were not licensed for such charters.
After the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) was established and CVLB dissolved in 2010, SPAD confirmed in public forums that permits for charter buses will not be renewed. But surprisingly, some are still running today.
One such bus was involved in an accident last Saturday. There were 30 children and five teachers on board, Sadly, three preschoolers and a teacher were injured when the bus smashed into a tree, hitting the big signboard first that absorbed some impact but the tree stood firm.
According to initial reports, the bus veered off the road or had skidded to the left side. But the road was straight and in fine weather.
The driver must have nodded off as the bus slowly veered left after passing another parked charter bus, as recorded by a rear-facing dash cam.
The bus was chartered by Pusat Asuhan Tunas Islam (Pasti) Ampang for an outing and was enroute from a chocolate factory to the Malaysian Agricultural Expo Park (MAEPS) in Serdang.
This reminds me of the excursion my granddaughter had when she was in preschool 12 years ago and went for a similar outing, also in a charter bus. Like the lady who recorded the video of the charter bus travelling behind her, I too followed the bus my granddaughter was in.
Fortunately, nothing untoward happened, and my granddaughter completed the whole trip before I picked her up at the end of the tour.
But for the poor lady who recorded and witnessed the bus crashing into the tree, she frantically cried out 'My child' 10 times as recorded in the video.
Not only that, the crash was so loud that the sound was clearly recorded by the dashcam placed inside the car facing the rear windscreen, even though the distance was about 100 metres away. The bus did not change course or slow down, as the driver must have fallen asleep.
Almost all charter buses are old and poorly maintained, and driven by owners-drivers or casual workers without the resolve to work long hours needed to drive stage, express or tour buses; or the discipline to be punctual driving school or worker buses.
Utilisation is low for charter buses but they manage to attract some customers with low rental rates.
However, the price can be high when safety is compromised. Should another charter bus be involved in an accident with passengers injured, the authorities are equally to be blamed. ‒ Aug 5, 2025
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image: Utusan Malaysia