Netizens wise up by being critical of Anthony Loke’s one-year Transport Ministership

Netizens wise up by being critical of Anthony Loke’s one-year Transport Ministership

PERHAPS the not-so-beautiful report card syndrome of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who clocked one-year in office on Nov 24 has spilled over to Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook (main pic, fifth from right).

Unlike the string of accolades that he used to receive at the outset of his second stint appointment as Transport Minister a year ago, netizens are seemingly having second thoughts about his one-year achievement in the same capacity under the unity government.

This comes about as DAP featured its secretary-general as “once again proven that he is indeed worthy to hold an important position in the Cabinet of the unity government when he has successfully carried out many reforms and achievements in less than a year at the helm of the Transport Ministry”.

Netizen Seven Lee fired the first salvo by describing the move to digitalise driving license and road tax as a “total failure” .

“Big burden to the rakyat. Won’t get my vote anymore,” he lambasted, with Jijoe Alfonso Pareira Abdullah seconding. “Totally agree with you. It’s a burden to the rakyat. This only trouble motorists and slows down traffic flow. Period.”

Netizen Vi Tiger regretted that the Grab e-hailing fee is undesirable as “it is getting worse and worse by the day”. “There is no improvement here,” he hit out with Minder Singh Sekhon and Ricky How concurring that “you fail, YB, in e-hailing matters”.

Netizen Lim Teck Lek wondered what initiatives have been implemented to enhance the convenience and comfort of public transport commuters while Ramesh Subramaniam is dumbfounded as to why the Transport Ministry has not taken any remedial action to reduce congestion in major roads and expressways.

“Why the policy to scrap 10 years-old and above vehicles has not yet been implemented? To reduce old vehicles from roads, the government must compensate citizens with a policy whereby there won’t be any import tax, excise duty and sales tax for new vehicle,” opined the netizen.

“To cover the tax losses, implement a new policy whereby petrol will cost RM5/litre and parking starts from RM5/hour. This way many people will stop driving their vehicle and start taking public transport to work or for their travelling. This will free major roads from congestion.”

Last but certainly not least, netizen James Lau wanted to know why “there isn’t anything in store for M40 motorists this time around”.

“Recall that he previously relaxed the law for tinted car windows which is vital to reduce sun heat penetration into the car, interior,” the netizen said.

For the uninitiated, Malaysians can apply for fully dark car window tints since 2019 for a fee of RM5,000 for two years (subject to approval of the Road Transport Department director-general). – Nov 27, 2023