KUALA LUMPUR: When Siti Mazlin Abdul Majid announced her intention to become a rider with bike e-hailing service provider Dego Ride, her family and friends were shocked.
The 39-year-old civil servant from Setapak here said her parents were worried for her safety as the job required her to ride at night and to secluded areas or places away from the city centre. They felt the job was not suitable for women, she added.
“However, later they expressed their support, saying it would be good for me to head out and earn some money rather than sit at home.”
Siti said registering with Dego Ride was easy as she already had a motorcycle licence.
Now, she makes at least six trips a day working as a part-time Dego rider, from 6am to 8am, 1pm to 2.30pm and 4.30pm to 10.30pm, earning more than RM30 daily.
“It is only during my off days and holidays that I ride full-time,” she told the New Straits Times.
Siti said things did not turn out well when she started out.
“Initially, when I had a profile picture of me in hijab on the Dego Ride app, I did not receive any requests for rides. But when I changed the picture, requests started coming in. Perhaps people thought I was a man since I have a tomboyish appearance!
“So far, I have had mostly male passengers. I had only one woman passenger.
“Passengers are mostly surprised to see me because they find it strange to ride pillion with a woman. I usually will ask them if they want to proceed or cancel the ride.
“So far, no one has refused. Instead, they ask me if I’m comfortable with the ride.
“All my passengers have been friendly. Some are generous and give me a good tip.
“Then, there are those who sit upright like statues! Perhaps they are not used to the experience,” said Siti, who was an Uber driver prior to joining Dego Ride.
The weather conditions are a challenge to bike taxi riders, said Siti.
“When I was with Uber, rain was not an obstacle. However, now I have to consider the passengers’ safety and comfort. The last thing I want is to see them getting drenched and falling sick.
“When it drizzles, I would lend them my jacket. But if it is a downpour, I will advise them to make another booking and not wait for me.”
Siti hopes Dego Ride will impose a cancellation fee on passengers, who fail to turn up after booking and make the riders wait long periods of time for them.
“Once, I rode all the way to Sentul and waited for 15 minutes. But the passenger did not show up.”
Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh had, on Jan 4, encouraged the participation of women riders in motorcycle taxi services such as Dego Ride.
This, she said, was in keeping with the needs of the job sector, which required women in various roles.
Dego Ride founder and chief executive officer Nabil Feisal Bamadhaj said the company received positive feedback from passengers and riders.
However, he said, the number of women riders was low.
“There are about 100 approved female riders, who make up less than one per cent of riders in the Dego Ride service. Our target is to increase it to at least 25 per cent.
“We welcome more women to join us so that we can get more women passengers to use our service.”
Nabil said safety was the company’s top priority.
“We are constantly improving the safety and security aspects for riders and passengers.
“We would like to propose a collaboration with the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to organise programmes to increase the awareness of women on safety, public transportation connectivity and income opportunities.”
Nabil said the company had received more than 4,000 applications for Dego Ride riders, of which 700 were approved after vetting.