7 days ago
Shouldn't Anthony Loke resign over non-delivery, repeated failures of Malaysia's public transport systems?
IN A familiar tirade, a government minister is taken to the cleaners for perceived failure to dispense duties.
The civil servant in question is Anthony Loke Siew Fook whose Transport Ministry has come under the spotlight for numerous issues that range from tragic (separate) accidents that claimed lives of tertiary institution students and FRU personnel to breakdown of public transport.
Squeeze in the death of a baby elephant into the mix, one could claim that Seremban MP and DAP secretary-general is definitely feeling the heat.
Or isn't he?
It was observed on X by urban transportation enthusiast Amirual Ruslan (@amirulruslan) that the country suffers from repeated and predictable pattern of over-promising, under-delivering and much to his chagrin, washing of hands whenever issues arise.
Malaysia suffers such an annoying, predictable pattern of overpromising, underdelivering, and then lazily shrugging when maintenance issues immediately pop up.
At what point did these projects overrun in time and why were these delays not expressed?
— Amirul Ruslan (@amirulruslan) August 5, 2025
He very pointedly demanded to know why when projects overrun – in both deadline and budget – they are not expressly highlighted by those supposedly in charge.
The angry post was in response to a similar post by Aduan Rakyat (@RakyatAduan) which highlighted that the LRT3 (Light Rail Transit 3) a.k.a. Shah Alam Line project slated for Sept 30 could miss its deadline.
This is in addition to the delay in the KTM Electric Train Service from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Baru. Moreover, there is also the repeated failures of the recently re-opened aerotrain service at Terminal One of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
This sense of frustration was echoed in the comments with various observers expressing similar sentiments.
The wastage – and pocketing – of public funds is the main problem here. The 'over-promise, under-deliver and poor maintenance' excuse was just a smokescreen claimed one commenter.
It was argued that this is the consequence of blindly placing deadlines without taking into account the actual needs of the work.
In Aduan Rakyat's post, it was also highlighted the RapidKL open payment system was to be delayed till 2028. The poster demanded an explanation from the Transport Minister.
One commenter wondered whether the minister's wages could be similarly delayed with such non-performance. He further hoped that one day the country will rid itself of a 'better late than never' culture.
The long list of perceived failures of the Transport Ministry under Loke has seen many calls for his resignation despite he being dubbed one of the most performing ministers during the short-lived Pakatan Harapan (PH) 1.0 era.
Stepping aside would not only herald an almost unprecedented move by incumbent minister but could actually help the Madani administration win back some of the trust deficit it is currently experiencing.
But then again, this is Malaysia and that would be wishful thinking. – Aug 7, 2025
Main image credit: Anthony Loke Siew Fook/Facebook
