Bumpy ride for trishaw pedallers in Penang

GEORGE TOWN – Penang’s rickshaw riders have been reduced to fighting for customers among themselves at tourist spots in the Pearl of the Orient here.

They are hoping for at least one passenger a day so they can fill their empty pockets and stomachs. 

But with the international borders closed, there are only a handful of tourists patronising their service.

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has stated that it would take four years for tourism to fully recover. 

Will there be any trishaw pedallers left after?

They are surviving on the low number of tourists and small government handouts from the federal and state governments.

Full-time trishaw pedaller of two years, who would like to be known only as Kana, 68, was previously a taxi driver before quitting to focus on the trishaw service.

He has brought tourists to Penang’s famous spots on his colourful trishaw on a part-time basis for 10 years. 

“I couldn’t earn a living from being a taxi driver, and now, I can't earn anything from being a trishaw pedaller,” he said.

Though there is an allocation by the state government to help the trishaw riders, it is barely enough as the trishaw rental is RM60 a month, excluding maintenance, 

“Before Covid-19, we were able to make money, now with the movement control order (MCO) we still do not have any customers – I feel that the tourism industry has forgotten us.”

On the welfare of other trishaw pedallers, Kana said that many will skip their meals because they don’t earn enough. 

“If there are no passengers, how are we going to work? I cycle around George Town hoping to find a passenger but after all that cycling, I get very tired.”

Residing in Kepala Batas, Seberang Perai, he said that several pedallers don’t stay on the island.

“I used to take the ferry over every morning. But with the current ferry issues, I have had to take a RM30 Grab ride over but end up with no customers for the day.”

“The tourism department has forgotten us. We are one of the drivers for tourism; we serve the tourists who come to our shores, but now they’ve forgotten us,” he said.

“Don’t just give us food or money, we want jobs!” he added.

Another pedaller who would like to be identified as Roslan, 63, is a frail trishaw rider who is trying to make ends meet for him and his wife. 

“With Covid-19, our business is so bad we can’t earn money to feed ourselves. We want help, even if a little bit, so that we can get food to eat.

“Sometimes, we get one to two passengers, and after that, we may not get even one passenger for the next two to three days. We charge RM25 for a 30-minute ride. But if they bargain down to RM20, we will still cycle because there is no business. Many locals won’t take trishaw rides, except for some from other states.” 

At the beginning of MCO, Penang offered the registered pedallers a one-off RM500 cash financial assistance. 

It was part of the RM75 million economic stimulus package put forward by the state.

According to the state executive councillor Yeoh Soon Hin, who oversees tourism, the state topped up their existing monthly allowance by RM100.

However, he believes that more can be done by generating more interest to take the rides no matter for domestic or international tourists.

“We are looking at long term effort through rejuvenation and rebranding of the trishaw's overall image – aimed towards sustainability of the industry. The dwindling local interest towards trishaws means we need to bring new excitement to renew the interest of the public towards trishaws, and this is what we are working towards with the upgrading plan.”

He said that this rejuvenation programme was launched on the tourism platform penangtraveldeals.com whereby trishaw rides are the highlights of the tour packages. 

“In terms of social media, we have also promoted Penang trishaws as part of the unique city experience. It was also a notable feature during the Weibo Live Tour on Little Nyonya Series Shooting Scenes & Peranakan Culture held on August 3, where the host and guide took a trishaw tour of George Town and the live show garnered 288,000 views and the exposure of more than 1.1million.”

On how it can attract the domestic market, Yeoh said that they are studying ways to upgrade their image which include repairing the trishaws to make them more attractive and competitive. – The Vibes, October 11, 2020.