The Malaysian Insight

PENANG’S ubiquitous trishaws are expected to fade away as riders lose out to e-hailing services and find themselves with no replacement from among the younger generation.

Thousands of these three-wheelers used to ply the streets of George Town, but they have lost their appeal as a mode of transport with the arrival of cars and motorcycles. While they are still part of the Penang city’s heritage, today, their use is limited to ferrying tourists.

Even this looks set to end soon, with most trishaw riders getting old and finding a lack of younger Malaysians to replace them. They also have new rivals in the form of e-hailing services that offer cheaper, faster rides.

Ah Tong, 66, was scouring the streets around the iconic Komtar for a fare, hoping for the odd tourist seeking to take in the Unesco-listed city on trishaw, when The Malaysian Insight met him.

The only people interested in using Penang’s 300 trishaws are tourists, as locals prefer buses and e-hailing rides, he said.

“It’s very hard to get a fare these days, particularly after the free shuttle service from Cititel Hotel to Komtar was launched. Most people prefer the bus these days.”

Although some hotels allow trishaw riders to wait on their premises, Ah Tong gets fewer than five customers a day on average around the Komtar, Cititel Hotel and Padang Kota Lama areas.

He said he had seen no customers for the past three days, and earned just RM25 on the day of the interview.

Although difficult, he has few options but to continue as the daily rent for his 80kg trishaw is just RM2.50. A new trishaw can cost some RM6,500.

Ah Tong, who rents a room nearby, said meals are easy to come by.

“Sometimes, the nearby restaurants would give us food,” he said, adding that he began pulling trishaws 13 years ago after losing a job as a lorry driver.

Another trishaw rider, Awang Man, said he, too, has not gotten fares for the past few days.

“Sometimes, it is hard to get even one customer in four or five days,” said the 74-year-old.

“But it’s not too bad today, as I’ve already earned RM100 from taking two tourists around for an hour.”

There is no standardised rate for trishaw services, but they are usually RM50 an hour.

Awang said he normally takes visitors to the popular tourist sites.

For Awang, who has been a trishaw rider for 44 years, e-hailing services are the latest challenge to the trade.

“Since their introduction in George Town, it has been harder, as cars can take up to five passengers, while we can take only two.”

With age catching up to him, Awang said it is getting increasingly difficult to compete with e-hailing services, which take customers further.

“Some of us have all sorts of diseases like poor eyesight, but I’m still doing this as I have nothing else.”

Trishaw riders get RM100 from the Penang government each month, but the amount is not enough as many of them are well into their 60s.

Ah Tong and Awang are among the 300 riders who can only afford to rent trishaws, but they count themselves fortunate as they have a place to stay.

Most of the other riders sleep by the roadside, beside or in their trishaws.

According to a 2016 Penang Institute study, 55% of trishaw riders in the state, who earn between RM900 and RM1,000 a month, have no accommodation. Only 17% earn more than RM1,300 a month.

The majority of trishaw riders are Chinese (61%), followed by Malays (23%) and Indians (15%).

Penang Trishaw Riders’ Association president Abdul Latiff Mohd said the vehicles’ maintenance costs are high.

“It costs a lot to maintain the tyres, chains and cushions. A single tyre can cost up to RM150.”

On top of that, he said, riders depend almost exclusively on tourists these days, as local have stopped using trishaw services.

“The fare for an hour is about RM50. RM40 goes to the rider, and RM10 goes to the hotel.”

Latiff, who has been pulling trishaws for the past five decades, said the future is bleak for the trade as there are not many young people interested in it.

“Only veterans are in this trade. Just a handful are still in their 30s. The young are not interested as they feel ashamed of pulling trishaws.”

Penang Institute researcher Tan Lii Inn said most of the 150 riders surveyed said they are not optimistic about the business.

“More than 90% of respondents were above 50 years old, and had worked for more than 20 years. This proves that there aren’t many young people in this trade.”

Tan said efforts to modernise the trade have failed as most trishaw riders are old and find it difficult to use new technology.

“Most of them are very old and live in poverty. They don’t think of anything other than how to get more aid.

“We previously suggested modernising their services, but they were not interested.”

Tan said the state government needs to take proactive measures to preserve the trade, adding that it could emulate Singapore’s Trishaw Uncle, or Artee in South Korea.

“Efforts should be made to provide an online platform so that users can book trishaw rides easily.

“The government can make the trade more attractive to youth if it’s modernised.” – September 8, 2019.