A group of tourists from Germany recently shared their frustrations with public transportation in our country after they were rejected from boarding a bus to the Kuala Lumpur city centre at a bus stop at Batu Caves in Gombak, Selangor.
The incident was recorded by TikTok user @big_laddo, who also interviewed one of the tourists after they were unable to ride the public bus.
Waited for a long time only to be left frustrated
At the start of the video, 3 foreign tourists, a German man and two women can be seen disembarking from a bus after talking with the bus driver.
Afterwards, the German man elaborated on the incident that just transpired. He asserted,
“We are tourists from Germany and we waited here for the bus for a long time. Now, we are very frustrated because we can’t get on the bus.”
“There was no information about how to pay for the bus and the bus driver just told us that we couldn’t get in and now we are here and don’t know how to get home.”
Couldn’t ride the bus because they didn’t have Touch ‘n Go cards
The foreign tourist elaborated that they were heading to the Kuala Lumpur city centre and that the bus driver told them they couldn’t ride on the bus as they didn’t have any Touch ‘n Go card.
He added that they didn’t know that they needed a Touch ‘n Go card to ride on the bus or how they could buy the card.
The German tourist asserted,
“We didn’t know we needed it (the Touch ‘n Go card), we didn’t know how to get it. It would be better if it’d be made easier.”
The bus stop was filled with litter and had no shade
Besides that, the foreign tourist also commented on the unpleasant state of the bus stop at Batu Caves which was filled with litter, saying that the bus stop was very uncomfortable, the signs were barely readable and there were no shade or seats at the bus waiting area.
You can watch the video here:
Watch on TikTok
Malaysians say they should’ve done more research
In the comments section of the video, Malaysians were divided on the German tourist’s comments, with some sympathising with them while others said that they should’ve researched more about our public transportation before coming to Malaysia.
One commenter said that the bus driver doesn’t care about the complaints by the tourists, as long as he gets paid at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, another commenter said that the information about our public bus services is more than adequate, so it’s their fault for not researching the information first.
Another commenter agreed with this sentiment, saying that they should’ve looked up information about the public transport in the area first before travelling.
Rapid Bus Sdn Bd has since responded to the viral video
Following the incident going viral on social media, the operator of RapidKL, the public bus service seen in the video, has since responded to the incident.
In a statement dated 1 March, Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd said that it had taken notice of the incident and apologised for any inconvenience experienced by commuters. The company further clarified that it had implemented a cashless mode of payment for RapidKL buses and MRT feeder buses since 2019.
Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd said that the implementation was for the benefit of commuters as payment can be made by tapping a card. Moreover, the company elaborated that Touch ‘n Go cards can be purchased at the customer service counters of LRT, MRT, Monorail and BRT stations, as well as at selected hubs such as fuel stations, convenience stores, pharmacies and even Touch ‘n Go self-service kiosks.
For illustration purposes
Rapid Bus Snd Bhd stressed that all of the information is available on its official website MyRapid, on the RapidKL social media channels and on the PULSE app.
The company thus strived to improve any weaknesses on its part, including striving to improve the information available on all its channels, be it online or on physical bus stops.
For illustration purposes
So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Also read: “Looks exactly the same!” – M’sians Amused by ‘Before & After’ Video of Kota Bharu Bus Terminal
