To truly understand the struggles that the general public face, you have to put themselves in their shoes.
Following his appointment as Minister of Transport, Anthony Loke has been spotted taking various modes of public transportation.
Although this is generally to look into the problems that daily commuters face, it also serves as a way to encourage more of members of Parliament to utilise our public transportation.
Just today (February 20), Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung shared his experience with the public transport as he travelled from Sunway all the way to parliament.
Journey to work
In a Twitter post this morning, Lee wrote, “This morning I took public transport to work – parliament! Leaving from Sunway 7:30am, what time will I arrive? Stay tuned.”
In an update later on, Lee shared how he had safely arrived in Parliament at 9:11am via shuttle bus which was prepared by the Transport Ministry and RapidKL.
“It was a smooth and very pleasant commute. All parliament staffs and officers can now take the buses from KL Sentral to Parliament starting at 8am daily.”
“It requires not just the commitment from the minister himself, or the ministries and MPs, but also preparedness of all urbanites to adjust our lifestyle and travelling pattern to embrace public transport,” he said.
Lee added, “Let us take this baby step as the beginning of a journey towards better, more equitable and sustainable public transport solutions, not for the few but for all.”
As he congratulated Loke for his efforts, Lee stated that, “Ever worsening traffic congestion is killing more of our time that could have been spent with family, friends and our loved ones. It is also consuming our already shrinking disposable income that otherwise could be used for investment or to improve our life.”
“As one of the first passengers that participated in this trip, I am proud to share that my entire journey today, right from my home in Sunway, are fully supported by BRT, LRT and a bit of pleasant walk.”
His detailing of his journey to parliament has since drawn praise from Malaysians who took it as an example to urge other MPs to try doing the same.
“Thank you for taking public transport to go to work. All of you should feel what we ordinary people face everyday so you can bring our voices into parliament and make policies to improve our public transport.”
“We need more MPs to use public transportation in the near future,” commented a user.
On the other hand, a couple of netizens were unimpressed with the time of his overall journey to work as it took him over 1 hour and 40 minutes.
“Almost the same if somebody drives from Putrajaya. Better drive.”
“Left at 7:30am and reached at 9:11am. Now do you understand why so many people dream of owning a car,” said another user.
Watch a video of his journey below:
From home to Parliament with my staff and I, all via public transport. Thanks @askrapidkl & @anthonyloke for your efforts in ensuring public transports are safe, comfortable and on time. #pj #p105 #pengangkutan #mot #public #transport #trains #bus #parliament pic.twitter.com/6pE8bWf8bf
— Lee Chean Chung (@cheanchung) February 20, 2023
What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments.