This must be common occurrences at busy public places like airport, railway stations and bus terminals, giving Malaysia and its tourist industry a bad name.
It just happened at the main entrance of KL Sentral at 6.40 am this morning (Thursday 21 April 2011) when I was fetching my wife from a long train journey. I was about to drive off when a taxi cut into my path and park in front of my car on the outer lane, disembarking a foreign looking passenger, I assume a tourist or someone who came to town for a business deal.
Normally I would get irritated and honked but I was at my most patience with due respect to our foreign guest. The next scene I saw was the passenger and driver in jovial mood standing behind the taxi exchanging greetings and settling payment. While the passenger was standing, the driver moved into his taxi and drove off. The poor guy was flailing his hands and at the same time banging the boot of the taxi gesturing. I could only assume he was trying to extract his luggage from the boot but the taxi just bolted off.
I wanted to give chase but the guy’s hand luggage was on my path. I could only honked gesturing to him to get the bag off my way but it was too late. The taxi was nowhere in sight.
As it happened so fast I was unable to see the taxi number plate, its light was not on. The surrounding place was poorly lighted and it was quite dark at that time.
On reaching home, when we related the incident to a staff of the Hilton next to where it happened we were told that they were common occurrences. Even guests at the hotels at Sentral were not spared by these rogue taxi drivers. Some guests with family would go shopping at the many prominent complexes in the city, come back by taxi and got similar treatment. There was nothing much the staff could do except to advice their guests to take the LRT which could inconvenient them.
The rampant occurrence of such incident is giving a bad name to Malaysia and the tourist industry of the country. I suggest the various authorities look seriously into the matter.
To start with the place should be better lighted and sophisticated surveillance cameras in the form of close circuit television (CCTV) be installed. If that had been done then more should be added pointing to vantage points.
I don’t like this to happen to my friends or guests. I guess the poor guy this morning must be having a nightmare and very poor impression Malaysia right now.
So someone of authority on such related issue out there kindly take action.
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