Kind-hearted resident: Malaysia's ‘Loh Mai Kai' fills potholes for safer roads
The 69-year-old former labourer who voluntarily fixes potholes said he had seen motorcyclists fall after hitting potholes.
TANJUNG MALIM – Johor Bahru once had 'Panjang', the pothole fixer.
Now, Tanjung Malim, a town in the southern part of Perak near the border with Selangor, has 'Loh Mai Kai' – not the popular dish of steamed glutinous rice with chicken, but a kind-hearted resident who patches roads.
'Loh Mai Kai', whose real name is Mr Chee Siew Kuan, said he fills potholes with construction waste or rocks.
He has been doing so for nearly a decade.
'I used to work in Rasa, Selangor, and returned here in 2016. While cycling around the area, I came across potholes on several stretches of road, especially on Jalan Ketoyong,' said Mr Chee in an interview.
The 69-year-old former labourer said he had seen motorcyclists fall after hitting potholes.
'For my own safety and for that of other road users, I decided to fill the potholes with cement blocks, bricks or rocks,' he said.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Live: Ong Beng Seng set to plead guilty in case involving ex-transport minister
Singapore The past and future of Choa Bungalow, a 'last reminder' of Marine Parade's former shoreline
Multimedia How Singapore is rethinking nature in the city
Business Buyers take up over 900 condo units at three new launches in Singapore over the weekend
Business Are Gen Z-ers in Singapore worried about generative AI coming for their jobs?
World Trump is winning his trade war, but Americans will pay the price
Singapore No plans to fully liberalise cross-border ride-hailing services between Singapore and Johor: LTA
Singapore LTA, Singapore bus operators reviewing Malaysia's request to start services from JB at 4am
Mr Chee, a father of two, said he makes use of discarded construction materials.
'As I get around on a bicycle, I can move only a little (material) at a time. I use a pail to make it easier to transport rocks or concrete,' he said.
Despite having a heart condition, he sa id he enjoys repairing roads.
'I'm used to hard work and can't stand sitting ( idle ) at home.
'Since I have a lot of free time now, I spend hours – sometimes half a day – repairing roads.
'If I see tree branches jutting out towards the road, I'll also trim them,' he said.
Mr Chee also maintains the area around his home by cutting grass and clearing drains.
'The garden waste is used as fertiliser for my plants, while sediment and small pebbles gathered from drains are used to fill gaps or broken parts of drains,' he added.
He said he draws inspiration from his late father's advice to always help the community whenever possible.
'I take his words to heart and always think positively. To still have my health and be able to repair potholes – it's what I can physically offer to the community, as I do not have a high academic background,' he said.
As for his nickname , the question remains – why 'Loh Mai Kai'?
'I don't remember how I got the nickname, but all my friends have been calling me that since I was a kid.
'Maybe it was because of my love for the dish,' he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Max Verstappen adjusts to life as a father, and looks ahead
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox NEW YORK – This spring, Max Verstappen's life changed, though not as drastically as may have been assumed. The 27-year-old Dutchman and his partner, Kelly Piquet, announced the birth of their daughter, Lily, before the 2025 Miami Grand Prix in May. The baby's arrival triggered questions about how it might affect Verstappen's performance. After securing pole position a day later in Miami, he joked: 'Clearly it didn't make me slower, being a dad.' Adjusting to a newborn hasn't been a shock, Verstappen said. Although his news conferences can seem tense at times, he was relaxed as he discussed this new chapter of his life. Having a young child around isn't actually new for Verstappen, as he has been in the life of Penelope – the daughter of Piquet and former Formula One driver Daniil Kvyat – since she was a year old. 'You get to understand how to live with a little one,' he said, 'and I think that has prepared me quite well for my own little girl.' Racing is the only life Verstappen has known. He comes from a racing family: His mother, Sophie, competed in karting until her initial retirement in the 1990s, and his father, Jos, became an F1 driver. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore East-West Line MRT service resumes after delays lasting around 5 hours; track point fault fixed Singapore Hidden vapes and where to find them: Inside ICA's clampdown at land checkpoints Singapore Sorting recyclables by material could boost low domestic recycling rate: Observers Singapore SM Lee receives Australia's highest civilian honour for advancing bilateral ties Asia Trump's sharp India criticism corners Modi as rift deepens Singapore More train rides taken in first half-year, but overall public transport use stays below 2019 levels Singapore BlueSG needs time to develop software, refresh fleet, say ex-insiders after winding-down news Asia Cambodia-Thailand border clash a setback for Asean: Vivian Balakrishnan Max became used to seeing Jos leave for a race weekend and admits he was 'quite upset about it because I wanted to join, but it also makes you understand what you have to do'. Sophie then took 'care of things at home'. And Piquet saw a similar dynamic in her own family, with her father, Nelson, a three-time F1 world champion. 'It's all very natural,' Verstappen said. 'It helps a lot.' There are two big lessons he took from his childhood: finding free time in everyday life and having an understanding partner. Over the past year, speculation has swirled around whether Verstappen might retire early. He is contracted with Red Bull through 2028, but that has not stopped the rumor mill. But he has reaffirmed his commitment to Red Bull, saying he would still be with the team next year. To Verstappen, his future ultimately boils down to whether he can give 100% and still have fun doing so. 'People sometimes hang around maybe to create more money, but at the end of the day, that doesn't come first. It's important you're here because of the hunger to win,' Verstappen said. 'As long as I can do that, and I'm working with the people that I enjoy working with, then, yeah, we'll drive. I don't know when that will stop. Is that 32? Is that 35? 36? I don't know. It's impossible to know.' Verstappen will be 31 years old by the end of the 2028 season, with 14 years in Formula One, after starting at the age of 17. By comparison, Lewis Hamilton is 40 years old with 19 years in F1, while Fernando Alonso is 43 with 22 seasons. But the conversation on retirement is more than just age. 'I feel like I'm already missing out so much on just being with my family,' Verstappen said, including his parents, siblings and friends. 'I spend holidays with them, but I really miss the moments of just casually rocking up for a weekend or just hanging out on the couch, sitting together on a lazy day, or just after a normal workday. These kinds of moments are not possible with my life. Throughout Verstappen's various career chapters, he has enjoyed consistent success. He won his first F1 race during his first grand prix weekend with Red Bull, after spending his first season and four more races at its junior team, and he holds the record for the most consecutive F1 wins at 10. But this year is new, as Red Bull endures a downturn in performance. Even without winning consistently, is Verstappen still having fun? 'I'm having enough fun, yes,' he said. 'Some bits are not fun, but the most important thing that I enjoy is driving the car. And that is fun.' And the approach to handling criticism boils down to, as he put it, 'I don't care.' 'I know what I have done to get here,' he said. 'I've known what I have achieved already in this sport, and I focus on myself, the people close to me. The team and family. I do what I have to do on track, and then, besides that, just live my life outside of it with all my passions.' NYTIMES
Straits Times
32 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Taiwan mulls curbing Chinese cars imported from third countries
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Under current regulations, the import of fully assembled vehicles from China is already prohibited. Taiwan is evaluating measures to restrict the import of Chinese-branded vehicles from third countries, following local media reports that BYD is planning to enter the Taiwanese market by shipping cars assembled in Thailand. 'Based on considerations of national security, vehicle safety, information security and industrial development, the government will strictly prevent Chinese-branded automobile from entering the Taiwanese market through various channels,' Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement on Aug 5. Under current regulations, the import of fully assembled vehicles from China is already prohibited, the statement added. Vehicles assembled in Taiwan using Chinese components must meet a localisation threshold to be eligible for sale in the local market, it said. The statement followed a Mirror Media report citing unidentified sources that BYD is working with Taikoo Motors Group, which has a Taiwan dealership, to import vehicles assembled in Thailand. Two models have reportedly already been sent to Taiwan for safety certification. BYD is increasingly seeking growth abroad as the domestic Chinese market has become saturated with hundreds of players engaging in unsustainable price wars. BYD and Taikoo did not immediately respond to requests from Bloomberg News for comment. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Straits Times
BlueSG needs time to develop software, refresh fleet, say ex-insiders after winding-down news
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The two-door electric cars that launched the BlueSG car-sharing service in 2017 are no longer in production. SINGAPORE – The need for a robust software to power the service and for better vehicles has been cited by former BlueSG insiders as two possible reasons behind the electric car-sharing service winding down operations on Aug 8 and relaunching in 2026. BlueSG said it was doing so to upgrade its platform, which includes enhanced technology and a refreshed fleet, to make the service more reliable and efficient. The software manages the vehicle fleet, works with the user database and handles payments. BlueSG switched to its current software in late 2023 from another one that was used before the car-sharing service was sold in 2021 to Goldbell, a Singapore-owned company known for commercial and industrial vehicle leasing. This was because the rights to use the previous software expired, Mr Ng Lee Kwang, a BlueSG board director between 2021 and 2023, told The Straits Times. The new software drew user complaints on issues such as car bookings and payments. Mr Franck Vitte, who founded BlueSG in 2017 and served as its managing director until October 2021, when it was sold, told ST on Aug 5 that the software needed by the car-sharing service is complex to develop and difficult to run reliably. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore More train rides taken in first half-year, but overall public transport use stays below 2019 levels Asia Philippines, India shore up ties amid China tensions, US tariff risks Singapore 'She had a whole life ahead of her': Boyfriend mourns Yishun fatal crash victim Singapore Doctor hounded ex-girlfriend, threatened to share her intimate photos, abducted her off street Asia Trump's transactional foreign policy fuels 'US scepticism' in Taiwan Singapore Beauty industry consumers hit by 464% rise in prepayment losses in first half of 2025 Singapore Over 5,900 vape products found in car at Woodlands Checkpoint Singapore 13 taken to hospital after accident involving SBS buses, car in Tampines He said that while it is possible to continue the service and make the switch to a new software platform when it is ready, the company's decision to take a pause in this way would allow it to focus on developing the planned changes and not be distracted by correcting bugs. He also suspects that the developers may have realised that a thorough rework of the foundations, rather than patching fixes to the software, is needed to ensure that the system will operate smoothly. Even though there are ready-made, off-the-shelf software solutions, adapting them to the specific requirement of BlueSG will take a lot of work, Mr Vitte said. This includes handling Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges, parking fee payments and having access to the call centre from the smartphone app. The two-door electric cars that launched the BlueSG car-sharing service in 2017 are no longer in production and some of the replacement parts are difficult to source. Mr Ng said there is a need for newer electric cars that can be charged up faster and have longer operating range, so that the cars can be used more frequently to generate more revenue and boost profitability. This comes as BlueSG posted a net loss of $31.1 million between January 2023 and March 2024, based on its latest publicly available financial statements. This is more than two times the $11.4 million net loss the company incurred in the financial year ended December 2022, according to statements filed with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. The company attributed the losses to the heavy investments made over the years, which were part of its strategy to achieve its growth plans. It is a marked change of fortune for the firm, which had posted a $1.8 million profit in the financial year ended December 2021. BlueSG is Singapore's first electric-only car-sharing service. Its launch in 2017 was supported by the Land Transport Authority and the Economic Development Board. The car-sharing service has two types of electric vehicles in its fleet: a compact two-door hatchback, a specially built model for BlueSG that entered service in 2017, and the Opel Corsa-e, a larger, four-door hatchback, which was introduced in 2022. BlueSG's revenue leapt to $21.1 million in 2021, from $14.3 million in 2020. Revenue continued to rise steadily to $23 million for the 12 months ended December 2022, and to $24.6 million in the January 2023 to March 2024 period. No financial statement was filed for the 2023 financial year. Responding to ST's queries, BlueSG chief executive Keith Kee said the figures must be viewed in the context of the company's 'deliberate, front-loaded investment strategy'. He added that the company has invested about $70 million over the past years in building up BlueSG. 'We committed to scaling the business in a way that it would support long-term growth, and made a conscious decision to invest ahead of the curve, fully aware that it required upfront capital commitment,' said Mr Kee. In its 2021 announcement about its plans for BlueSG, Goldbell said it planned to invest more than $70 million over five years to grow the car-sharing service's fleet and back-end technologies to boost operational efficiencies and customer experience. Goldbell also aspired to take BlueSG to other cities in the Asia-Pacific. The car-sharing company said its relaunch in 2026 will see an upgraded platform, a refreshed car fleet and more locations for users to rent and return cars. The company is also laying off an undisclosed number of staff. The latest available financial statement, which is for the January 2023 to March 2024 period, showed that BlueSG's costs came to $40.3 million – 46 per cent more than the $27.6 million incurred in the January to December 2022 period. This was due to factors such as the cost of insurance, maintenance and storage of its electric vehicle fleet, which came up to a combined $9.3 million, 42.9 per cent more than 2022's figure of $6.5 million. BlueSG said it has a fleet of 'almost 1,000 electric vehicles' and more than 1,500 charging points. Since it was acquired by Goldbell, its subscriber base has grown from 140,000 to more than 250,000, but it declined to say how many users are active. BlueSG is unique among car-sharing services in Singapore because the hired car does not have to be returned to the same location from where the vehicle was rented out. Using the service involves signing up as a member and booking a car over a smartphone app. The app also unlocks and starts the car. The service is charged on a per-minute basis, instead of larger 30-minute or hourly blocks, which are more common.
