Malaysia's public transport usage just at 20%, says Loke
THE percentage of public transport usage in Malaysia has only reached 20% to date, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
He said the figure remains below the 40% target outlined in the National Transport Policy 2019–2030.
'The national transport policy from 2019 to 2030 is already in place. So, our challenge is how to ensure that this policy is realised according to its intended goals,' he said when met after the Ilmuwan Malaysia Madani Siri 6 forum at Menara Prasarana recently.
The forum discussed the topic 'Transportation for the People: Balancing Affordability, Quality and Sustainability of Public Transport', chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In addition to Loke, other panel members were President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah and Universiti Putra Malaysia Vice-Chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah.
Commenting further, Loke said the implementation of the 'Road to Rail' initiative is currently being carried out in phases and is expected to have a significant impact on the country's logistics sector.
'We are actively promoting the use of rail. That's why one of our focus initiatives is 'Road to Rail' , to encourage more usage of railways for the transportation of containers and goods,' he said.
'When the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project is completed, it will boost the use of rail to transport goods and containers to the East Coast, thereby reducing reliance on road transport such as lorries,' he added. ‒ June 5, 2025
Main image: The Malaysian Reserve/Muhd Amin Naharul
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Focus Malaysia
12 hours ago
- Focus Malaysia
Malaysia's public transport usage just at 20%, says Loke
THE percentage of public transport usage in Malaysia has only reached 20% to date, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke. He said the figure remains below the 40% target outlined in the National Transport Policy 2019–2030. 'The national transport policy from 2019 to 2030 is already in place. So, our challenge is how to ensure that this policy is realised according to its intended goals,' he said when met after the Ilmuwan Malaysia Madani Siri 6 forum at Menara Prasarana recently. The forum discussed the topic 'Transportation for the People: Balancing Affordability, Quality and Sustainability of Public Transport', chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. In addition to Loke, other panel members were President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah and Universiti Putra Malaysia Vice-Chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah. Commenting further, Loke said the implementation of the 'Road to Rail' initiative is currently being carried out in phases and is expected to have a significant impact on the country's logistics sector. 'We are actively promoting the use of rail. That's why one of our focus initiatives is 'Road to Rail' , to encourage more usage of railways for the transportation of containers and goods,' he said. 'When the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project is completed, it will boost the use of rail to transport goods and containers to the East Coast, thereby reducing reliance on road transport such as lorries,' he added. ‒ June 5, 2025 Main image: The Malaysian Reserve/Muhd Amin Naharul
Focus Malaysia
12 hours ago
- Focus Malaysia
Many tertiary institutions and students are rudderless
OTHER than those pursuing licensed professions, most of the other students are not focused on specific careers and go through the motions of learning just to be awarded diplomas or degrees, only to discover later they have little value in the private sector where only performance counts. Until we had a recession in 1985‒86, university graduates were well regarded, including those from local universities, as they were of much higher quality. The decade between 1988 and 1997 were the best years for businesses and employees in Malaysia, especially in the private sector. Many received high increments and bonuses, or obtained much higher salaries by changing employers. But the 1997 Asian financial crisis took a heavy toll from 1998 onwards, and was so bad that many wished to be in government service that provides job security and pension. As local universities kept lowering standards to churn out larger numbers of graduates to meet their key performance indicators (KPIs) based on quantity, a huge number of jobs were created by government agencies to absorb them and reduce the number of unemployed graduates. This resulted in Malaysia having the most bloated civil service in the world, with 1.6 million by 2016, or one civil servant for every 19 citizens, compared to 71 in Singapore, 84 in Russia, 108 in China, 110 in Indonesia and 118 in the United Kingdom. In 1988, Malaysia's National Education Philosophy (NEP) was established and adopted in 1989. The aim was to produce citizens who are balanced in their intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical development, and contribute to greater harmony of the family, society and nation. Over the years, many local professors have reiterated that the primary role of our universities is to prepare students for the long future ahead by facilitating them to develop holistically and their potentials fully, not training them to perform specific jobs or catering to demands of the industry. Those who wish to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to perform well in specific jobs could enrol in one of the many Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) courses offered by numerous public and private institutes, colleges and polytechnics spread across the country. So, what is the main aim of students pursuing general programmes in our universities? Is it to develop themselves fully as defined under NEP or to be job ready upon graduation? Sadly, the results mostly showed that it was neither the former nor the latter. To bridge the gap between academia and industry, the Higher Education Ministry implemented the Two University Two Industry (2u2i) programme in 2016, with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) as the pioneers. The work-based learning (WBL) approach is used in 2u2i. It is a combination of on-campus and off-campus learning where students spend two years at the university and two years in an industry placement to expose them in real-world scenarios and not limited to academic theories. But it would be a huge challenge to introduce this concept to a popular university programme that needed it most— 'Tourism Management'. While 'Hotel Management' includes providing accommodation, food and beverage plus holding functions, what is tourism management? First, tourism cannot be managed by any individual or organisation, not even the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Just like one must choose which of the 25 different types of engineering to study, tourism is wide and covering all areas will be too thin. Tourism students may be told they could later choose and venture into any field they like. But being jack of all trades and master of none, they would discover that their basic knowledge and skills will not help them to secure jobs they desire or perform well at work. To succeed in any career or business, one must specialise. To be empowered, one must have strong communication skills, including English, to write, speak, read, and understand clearly. To forge ahead, one must be able to think and interpret situations and circumstances accurately, All these are missing with most of our graduates. Recently, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Datuk Hussain Syed Husman said many graduates emerged with academic credentials that do not sufficiently prepare them for the practical demands of today's job market. Commenting, Parent Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim cited a lack of practical training, poor English, and weak early education as key factors behind the skills mismatch. As such, the 2u2i concept should not be limited to undergraduates but also to lecturers. If that were to happen, then tourism management programmes will undergo a revolution. But this wouldn't happen. Just like the students, these lecturers would be at a loss to decide on a particular job. – June 4, 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: Shutterstock
The Star
18 hours ago
- The Star
Queues at VEP application centres in Singapore, JB after news of enforcement from July 1
SINGAPORE/JOHOR BAHRU (The Straits Times/ANN): Waves of Singapore motorists showed up at Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) application and installation centres in Singapore and Johor Bahru a day after Malaysia announced that enforcement of the VEP will start on July 1. Singapore-registered vehicles entering the country from that date without a valid VEP will be fined RM300 (S$91), Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on June 4. The drivers will have to pay the fine and complete their VEP registration before leaving Malaysia. On June 5, motorists showed up at VEP centres in Woodlands in Singapore and Danga Bay in Johor Bahru because they needed help with signing up on the online portal or had problems activating their radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. VEP-registered vehicles need to have RFID tags installed and activated in order to make payments for Malaysian expressway tolls and the road charge when entering Johor via the two land checkpoints. The counters in Malaysia are operated by TCSens, Malaysia's ministry-appointed vendor for handling VEP registrations; while the one in Singapore is run by My VEP, a separate company, in collaboration with TCSens. Between 9.30am and 10.30am, around 40 people were seen queueing outside the My VEP office in Woodlands Industrial Park. They include motorists collecting their VEP RFID tags and those needing help with applications. Those without appointment slots were turned away. Around lunchtime at the TCSens inquiry centre in Danga Bay, more than 60 motorists were seen queueing to seek assistance from staff to troubleshoot their VEP registrations. The centre allows walk-in inquiries. Latiff Saleh, 64, who did not have an appointment, left the Woodlands centre in Singapore without getting any assistance. He needed help to terminate the existing VEP registration of his car, which was tagged to its previous owner, as he was not able to do so online. On hearing the June 4 announcement, he tried to log in to the VEP portal to restart the application process but faced difficulties. He had not decided whether to try his luck at Danga Bay soon or wait for the rush in Woodlands to subside before getting an appointment. Inquiries had been decreasing before the June 4 announcement, and appointment slots had been available daily since March, said Mr Ng Poh Heng, manager of My VEP. But by the morning of June 5, all the slots until June 20 had been taken up, checks by The Straits Times found. Esther Chua, 50, received her VEP RFID tag earlier in 2025 but found that it could not be fitted to her car as required. The finance executive did not get around to exchanging the tag until after hearing the latest news. 'The Malaysian side seems to keep changing their mind, so I didn't feel the need to get it fixed (so soon),' she said at Woodlands on June 5. Singapore-registered vehicles entering the country from July 1 without a valid VEP will be fined RM300 (S$91). -- Photo: The Straits Times/ANN The latest move to enforce the VEP comes eight years after the plan was first mooted in 2017. Its implementation was shelved twice, in 2019 and again in 2020. It was rolled out in October 2024, but foreign vehicles found without valid VEPs were given reminders to get registered and not fined. At the Danga Bay inquiry centre on June 5, waiting times were long, with motorists saying they began queueing from as early as 6am for the counter to open at 9am. One of the motorists, a 76-year-old Singaporean retiree who wanted to be known only as Mr Chong, said that his VEP application was rejected in October 2024 because it was missing insurance documents. He said he never heard back after he replied with the documents. 'Suddenly, they said they are going to enforce (the requirement) this July. This is very troublesome,' he said, adding that the announcement on June 4 caught him by surprise. Singaporean interior designer Andrew Ho, 44, who arrived in Danga Bay at 9am, waited five hours to get help from TCSens staff. His VEP RFID tag could not be read at the Malaysian Customs gantry. A TCSens staff member at Danga Bay told ST that by 2.30pm, he had already assisted more than 100 motorists, compared with the daily number of 130 cars that the centre had handled in the past few months. Loke told reporters on June 4 that foreign-registered private vehicles have had ample time to be VEP-registered since the call to do so was made in May 2024. The minister added that 231,018 Singapore-registered private individually owned vehicles have signed up for the VEP, with 15 per cent yet to activate the RFID tags. Meanwhile, skip-the-queue VEP services in Singapore are seeing an uptick in inquiries. These services apply for the VEP on the motorists' behalf, saving drivers the hassle of making the online application or queueing at the counters. Derrick Heng, director of Radiant VEP, which offers skip-the-queue services, said inquiries have spiked since the latest announcement, after getting around 10 queries daily from the beginning of 2025. 'We received about 30 inquiries on June 4, and our office (in Kaki Bukit) was full, with motorists coming in to apply for the permits at the last minute,' he said. Jason Koay, director of accounting and secretarial firm Bizwise Management, which advertises its VEP application assistance service on Carousell, said he helped with 50 applications on June 5, up from two to three inquiries a day since March. A TCSens spokesman urged Singaporean motorists to register promptly for the VEP through the website, as it is anticipating a surge in applications and appointments at its four centres in Johor Bahru and Singapore. 'Motorists must ensure that the VEP RFID tags are securely fixed on their vehicles and activated for use once they have received them,' he added. - The Straits Times/ANN
