PETALING JAYA, June 4 ― To help struggling taxi drivers, and the vulnerable who needed to get to vaccination centres, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim killed two birds with one stone in a praiseworthy solution.
He decided to help pay the city’s taxi drivers to send senior citizens aged 60 above, pregnant women, and people with disabilities (PWD) to Covid-19 vaccination centres.
The initiative came about because Sim felt sorry for taxi drivers who were struggling to gain an income.
“Around 30 to 40 taxi drivers have been having a hard time to stay afloat and yet they still have to pay for their car rental and fuel.
“Many of them have families and have to pay for their household expenditure.
“Some of the drivers told me that it was impossible for them to even get a customer over a period of a few days,” he wrote on Facebook.
Sim said he was inspired to help his people get vaccinated and help taxi drivers following a similar initiative by Seremban MP Anthony Loke in Seremban.
Loke, the former Transport Minister, made the decision to help encourage people to get themselves vaccinated.
“Free taxi services offered to senior citizens 60 years and above, PWDs, and pregnant women to vaccination centres,” he announced on Facebook.
Subang Jaya assemblywoman Michelle Ng is also reaching out to senior citizens to get themselves vaccinated by providing free transport service.
Kampung Tunku assemblywoman Lim Yi Wei has also partnered with ride-hailing service GoCar Malaysia to provide free transportation for senior citizens and PWD to head to their Covid-19 appointment centres.
“We will be covering the Petaling district (Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, parts of Shah Alam and Kota Damansara).
“Vaccination centres covered for now are Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre, Hospital Shah Alam, UM Medical Centre, Shah Alam’s Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC) and PJ’s Klinik Rakan Medik.”
