Can't sleep because I'm worried about my friend who is on her way back to JB from KL.
She's having problem and I told her to write about it and send to me via WhatsApp.
This is what she sent just now;
The ticket which I bought at TBS in KL today stated that I would start my journey to Johor Baru at 7pm.
My SUPER COACH reached TBS only at 8pm.
After a short drive, the driver said he hadn't had dinner yet so he stopped the bus to have his meal.
None of the passengers complained because it was not good to let people go hungry. Moreover "a hungry man is an angry man".
The driver also told us before he went off to have his meal that "he would leave anyone behind if he came back and if a commuter was not on board".
Well, this proves the saying "angry man, hungry man".
Anyway, he later stopped at the Yong Peng RnR for toilet break, which was expected.
But not far from there at the Simpang Rengam rest area, he made another unexpected stop.
He told a lady passenger that he was too sleepy to drive and he needed to sleep for an hour, or there was possibility of an accident.
The lady passanger was sympathetic. She said "at least the driver was being truthful".
My questions to the bus company. Where was the second driver? How come the driver didn't have to follow a time schedule?
Maybe SPAD can find out. There were about 10 passengers onboard with me, including a child and a senior citizen.
The bus continued its journey to Skudai at 1.51am.
Ends
My friend also sent me pictures of the bus,
I tried to call the hotline of Road Transport Department to report the problem but can't get through.
Hopefully someone there will see this post and do something with this nonsense.
As I'm writing this, my friend has not yet reached her destination which is in Skudai, JB.
She will probably reach there by 3am.
Then she has to take a taxi, or Uber or Grab to get home.
I'm going to stay awake until she got there.
Hopefully so.
Whatever it is, this is an example of a terrible bus service.
Real third world country kinda stuff.
SPAD, FGV, FELDA, ROS - what do you expect?
ReplyDeleteSPAD is now under Isa Samad. What can we expect from a guy who's immune from the long arms of the law.
DeleteLooks like this country is rotting from top to bottom.
ReplyDeleteHow long more before the whole country collapse.
Then it will be a great tragedy, dont you think so, as we were considered one of the rising star country not too long ago.
Hi Annie,
ReplyDeleteI frequently travel using bus from KL JB and vice versa. The bus services doesn't change much compared to 25 years ago when I was a student except maybe a bit improvement on online booking and newer bus terminal i.e TBS & JB, Larkin. You will be amazed on how this bus operator operates. These are the common thing I experience myself;
1. No second Driver
2. Speeding more than 120km/hour on highway
3. Never arrive on time
4. Actual seat are not according to one in the printed ticket
5. Terrible aircond - either its super cold or super hot
6. Meal/Toilet stop - Why these bus operator are not using Plus R&R is still a mystery. They always stop at some Chinaman foodcourt (i suspect the Driver are getting some kind of rebate/voucher/eat free for bringing passenger there)
All this thing happening because no enforcement. SPAD is worth to spat on!. Paying hundred of thousands a year to so called Chairman for nothing. Remember last time when have a bus accident, all sort of statement come from these people. To introduce speed breaker la.. to have a royal inquiry la.. but end up with nothing. You wait for another bus accident, you will know what i mean. We, passenger have no one to turn to. Nothing, zero. The Driver is the king when you are taking bus.
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of things you should expect happening everywhere with this goverment in power.
No integrity, no credibility, no responsibility. And honesty is alien to them.
And if you still for vote them this coming GE, this country will become the basket case of ASEAN.
Sad, but true.
Bastard son of pekan..
DeleteThanks for highlighting. Never take Selat Keris bus as well. Some of drivers are 04 gang members and drive dangerously.
ReplyDeleteSame with Qistna. If you take their bus at night they can reach jb from kl in less than 3 hours.
DeleteKonsortium dah takde. It was formerly Stoneway also gulung tikar
Gunung Raya's Supercoach memang problem. Late, driver attitude, filling up petrol after taking passengers from terminal etc.
The worst kind of problems is when the driver deviates from the route and enters some new places to deliver goods (drugs maybe?) or to take passengers. They will delay your journey for a few more hours.
And sometimes the driver will purposely drive very slowly because he is picking up some passengers some way ahead and he needs to slow down because the passengers haven't arrived at the pick up point yet.
Hopefully someone from SPAD will read this article and come out with Act to make sure the bus operator to reimburse back the passengers money if they complain of something like this. Padan muka. But you know, this all bus operator pun orang politik.
ReplyDeleteThe bus company should hire more drivers rather than let one driver rush trips on his own, and have no time to eat a decent meal just because he has to keep to the schedule.
ReplyDeleteAre you surprised Annie; are you shocked?! The entire Malaysian citizenry is dumbing down to the horrifying belligerence of Tyrant Mappadulung!!!
ReplyDeleteBut Malaysians want to pay cheap cheap for the bus fare! How do the bus companies hire another driver if the monies from the tickets are not enough to cover for another driver?
ReplyDeleteto me, you get what you pay.
come on man, we want to get what we pay, exactly!!
Deleteyou want to pay rm100 for on time departure and arrival, sound sleep where you're not worried about stinky driving? where everywhere else these luxury cost only rm50?
if you're neither a bus driver nor bus company staff, then you're so dumb to pay more bus fare
Then how to become developed nation? Anon 12:52
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLulu kalau tatak mau naik bas Lu bolih naik keleta api dari KL > JB atau JB > KL sikalang Lu kena belenti Gemas tunggu lain train ka JB . Itu Gemas tunggu belapa lama sampai train ka JB latang tak tau lea aa belapa lama maa aa.
Lakyat didahulukan maa aa ,sampai bawah semua tatak betut maa aa .
Ini tatak betut punya hat dari atas sampai >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> itu driver semua tatak betut ,siapa lagi mau lakyat kasi halap maa aa.
Actually my friend had wanted to take the train but changed her plan because of the Gemas switching train thing. Too troublesome.
DeleteBlame it on pak lah who cancelled the double track projek
DeleteAnnie harap kawan dan selamat sampai destinasi yang di tujui.
ReplyDeleteYes. She reached home safe. Thank you.
DeleteAnnie,
ReplyDeleteI know you are not implying it but I do NOT blame the driver at all.
In fact, I say that the driver should be commended for his approach to safe working conditions.
I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the bus operator for putting the driver in such a difficult position.
Next to be responsible for the cockup are the authorities for not ensuring that the bus operator provides a safe transport service to passengers.
But what to do?
The bus operator is probably someone who is well-connected to the powers-that-be PLUS there is probably some under-the-table-money to someone somewhere.
The driver is simply the meat-in-the-sandwich.
Most likely, he needs the job and he needs the money.
Gladiator
I agree Glady.
DeleteNO REPORT NO ACTION
ReplyDeletePenyakit tunggu report baru bertindak masih tebal lagi kut.
Macamlah staf badan-badan tu tak baca internet.
Agak2 bila lah ini akan bertambah baik
Annie,
ReplyDeleteIf the bus driver want to go to sleep.
Do not argue with him, let him sleep rather than having a sleepy driver on the road.
I had a similar experience, at the time, the bus a took long stop twice for JB- KL journey.
I asked the driver, he actually dared me to complain.
So, I written a letter to the director of the bus, I emailed and I called the bus HQ.
The bus company did call me back asking further what had transpired.
We had to expect this kind of things to happen. The best thing to do is to complain at the HQ of the bus.
Agree that this is a third world kind of things.
Hopefully the double tracking system completed.
According to Tun M, the double track system should have been implemented long ago and the budget had been allocated. This is one of the things that he is not satisfied with Abdullah.
If the double tracking system completed, then, this kind of things might not happened.
If we say the double tracking system should have been completed a long time ago if not because of Pak Lah,why some people oppose to the ECRL?It is mind boggling to me.
DeleteProf Kangkung
Anonymous@ 26 March 2018 at 09:03,
ReplyDelete//They always stop at some Chinaman foodcourt//
Absolute rubbish.
I have caught the bus from Kl to JB/Singapore and vice versa - several times, maybe 10 trips all told.
Maybe 3, maybe 4 different bus operators.
I have stopped at Chinaman foodcourt twice.
The rest have all been Melayu stops - at least 2 stops have zero Cina shops.
Gladiator
Hi Annie,
ReplyDeleteThis is Susanna and I am an officer from SPAD. We have come across your blog post and have already proceeded to file the complaint as well as initiate investigation on the bus driver as well as the company. However, we would appreciate if your friend could get in touch with us if there is a need for further details to be added in this case. She can get in touch with SPAD through our Hotline SPAD 1800-88-7723 or e-mail aduan@spad.gov.my
Thank you
Hi Susanna
DeleteThanks to you and SPAD for responding to my posting. I will alert my friend about your request to get in touch with her. Cheers.
Susanna,
DeleteWhat is the KPI for the operator at Hotline SPAD to pick up the call to 1-800-88-7723? At times no one picks up the call laaa...
Hi Annie,
DeleteSo sorry that the line did not go through as the volume of calls may have made the waiting long. Would it be possible that your friend gets in touch with us through communications@spad.gov.my. She can address me in the e-mail and we will respond as soon as we can.
Ok Suasana.
DeleteI will tell her.
Thanks
Thank you Annie. Love you.
ReplyDeleteMajority of these buses are like la. The drivers ada yg eksen. Kalau kita cakap sikit depa tak suka sampai ada yg ajak bertumbuk. Yg main hp sambil driving pun ada. Kalau kita mintak dia turunkan kita at a bus stop dia jawap , turun kat terminal . Kan pundek tu. So skang aku prefer naik ETS.
ReplyDeleteSusanna,
ReplyDelete//We have come across your blog post and have already proceeded to file the complaint as well as initiate investigation on the bus driver as well as the company//
I admit I was extremely angry with you and SPAD for wanting to investigate the driver because he was just doing his job.
He did everything right as far as the safety of passengrrs was concerned.
He stopped for his meal break and he stopped when he was tired.
I said some very nasty things, to myself of cos, about you and SPAD.... until I realised that you were just doing YOUR job. :)
I realised you had to be fair and investigate all aspects of the case.
Just looking at the little bit of evidence presented here, I am completely convinced of where the problem lies.
My guess is that you and SPAD can do very little other than punish the driver for his "unprofessional" behaviour in stopping for food and rest.
As far as the bus operator is concerned, I suspect he/she is too powerful and too well-connected for you or SPAD to do anything.
For him/her, it will be business as usual after your investigation.
And the driver?
Oh, I am guessing he will be sacked for bringing trouble to the bus operator.
Inilah negaraku Malaysia.
Gladiator
It's most unfortunate if driver were to lose his job. The intent of highlighting this was not to get him into trouble, but do spare a thought for the passengers and their family members or friends who are anxiously waiting for news of their arrival, passengers who need to work the next day, relatives or friends waiting at the bus terminal that morning ....Yes, driver needs sleep and meal. How can one drive when one is sleepy and hungry? But his duty was to get the bus load of people to a certain destination at a certain time. There is clearly a lack of discipline, and this of public interest.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @ 29 March 2018 at 06:49,
ReplyDelete//Yes, driver needs sleep and meal.//
The real question is why that driver was even rostered on.
And as someone else pointed out, where was the second driver?
//but do spare a thought for the passengers//
Absolutely no arguments from me.
To that extent, the driver was doing the right thing by stopping for food and a nap.
I still maintain that the real hantu here is the bus operator, who is putting the lives of passengers at risk.
Gladiator