THE idea of bringing Gojek into Malaysia and giving life back to our own Dego Ride was met with derision.
I was not surprised by the concerns about safety, but at how people are being selective in their rationale.
For decades, bike riders have been one of the backbones of economic activity in cities.
Companies, businessmen and the public have been using bike riders to deliver documents, parcels and bouquets.
In recent years, we are seeing the rise of bike services to run errands, grocery shopping and food deliveries.
Did we hear anyone complaining about safety?
But when the government wants to allow these riders to ferry people, safety suddenly takes centre stage.
Where were these voices earlier? If we were okay with it before, why aren’t we now?
In my opinion, the objections to bike e-hailing are selfish. We worry about safety when we are on the bike, but we never paid heed to the safety of these riders serving our needs and wants for years.
And to put things into perspective, the government is not forcing anyone to use bike e-hailing.
It will provide an alternative to people who may not have the financial capacity to pay for car e-hailing or people who feel that the risk is worth taking for the time saved.
Another point worth noting is that bike e-hailing is used for short-distance travel because I do not think anybody will use bike e-hailing to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Shah Alam, which is 30km away.
If we are concerned about accident statistics among motorcyclists, we have to look further into the data.
For example, the accident rate on types of roads may be different, where presumably accidents on highways tend to be more serious than those on intra-city roads.
A good way to forecast accidents for bike e-hailing is to analyse the accident rate among bike-riding-based services, such as Foodpanda, Grab Food, Poslaju and LEL Express, as the routes and purposes of these bikers are similar to what Gojek offers.
If we think that bike e-hailing should not be allowed because of the additional danger it poses by riding on a two-wheeled motorised vehicle, as a policy, we must then also put a stop to other bike-based services because they are equally dangerous to riders.
The government is not only responsible for the safety of the users but also riders relying on these services to make ends meet.
On the other hand, the government must acknowledge that bike e-hailing is only a quick-win solution that may not tackle issues plaguing youths, such as high unemployment and low wages.
AKMAL AMRI
Chief executive officer, Institute for Research and Development of Policy