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Focus Malaysia
6 days ago
- Politics
- Focus Malaysia
Rallies are just a game of one-upmanship
FOLLOWING the Federal Court decision that ruled a section of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 criminalising not giving notice of assemblies to the authorities as unconstitutional, it has been smooth sailing for holding the anti-Anwar Ibrahim rally this Saturday. The police will not be closing any roads in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the rally, and are expecting to have 10,000 to 15,000 participants converging at Dataran Merdeka. However, the actual number may well be swelled by curious onlookers or those out to have some fun. AI created videos of people travelling to and attending the rally, which has yet to take place. These videos have gone viral, and many more videos would follow suit during and after the rally. Just like many fake videos in the past, many viewers would swallow them hook, line and sinker. Similarly, most people accept misinformation and disinformation as truth without realising that statements made by the same politicians often contradict, depending on whether they are in the government or opposition, to retain or gain power for themselves, not the interest of the rakyat. The fact is, there will be little change in our country, regardless of which block of parties are in the government. Many have resigned to the fact that we will be choosing the lesser of two evils come election day. Only the blind and ignorant, and staunch party supporters hoping for handouts, will continue to show support for their leaders, and will try to bring others down, including the sitting prime minister, but could not name a more capable replacement. The turnout for this Saturday's rally could be small, medium or large. If confined to ardent protestors, the number may be insignificant. But it could be swelled by paid protestors or curious onlookers, including foreign and domestic visitors attracted to historic sites around the area. Even if the number is large, made possible by great logistics, it will be a short-lived victory for the organisers and protestors. The other camp is not going to take it lying down and is likely to organise a mammoth pro-Anwar rally to show who is more popular in a game of one-upmanship. If so, this Saturday's rally would not only be an exercise in futility, but could also make Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim more popular than what he is today. As usual, rhetoric may impress the naive, but is more like hot air. ‒ July 25, 2025 YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant. The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia. Main image: Scoop/
Focus Malaysia
15-07-2025
- Business
- Focus Malaysia
Should we continue to gamble with the safety of bus passengers?
RECENTLY, I wrote ' Main reason why professionalism is lacking in most commercial vehicle operations ', which was published on July 1. I attributed it to the government's policy of granting permits to many small companies over the past decades so that many can profit from the business of transporting goods and passengers. But small players lack the resources needed to provide high standards of service and safety. If safety is to be given top priority now, a two-prong approach is needed. The first is new permits for express bus (Bas Ekspres) and excursion bus (Bas Persiaran) should be granted only to companies that have the resources and commitment to operate at least a fleet size of 20 buses. Bas Berhenti-henti permits are to be issued freely, as there are few applicants, and so are Bas Pekerja and Bas Sekolah, as these buses are mostly operated by individuals. But they should not be allowed to be chartered for excursions, as it would be too risky driving on unfamiliar routes. Existing express and excursion bus companies operating with less than 20 buses are to be given not more than five years to merge or consolidate, or their permits would not be renewed. A medium-size or large operator would have the infrastructure to ensure that all operations staff, especially drivers, are well trained to ensure that vehicles are properly maintained, and bus services are run efficiently and safely. Without a change in fundamentals, many bus accidents that result in horrific injuries or loss of lives will continue to occur, and various authorities would respond only with knee-jerk reactions. The powers that be will have to decide between using express and tour bus permits to promote entrepreneurship for many small players, or restrict the transport of passengers to companies with adequate resources to deliver professional service with safety as the core value. ‒ July 15, 2025 YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant. The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia. Main image: The New Straits Times
Focus Malaysia
06-06-2025
- Business
- Focus Malaysia
Arrival figures must be reported correctly
VNEXPRESS, an online newspaper based in Vietnam has done it again by publishing 'Malaysia beats Thailand to become Southeast Asia tourism champion' in its June 3 report that Malaysia received 10.1 million foreign arrivals in the first quarter of this year, and Thailand 9.55 million. But tourist arrivals to Malaysia from January to March this year was 6,366,801, and the 10.1 million came about by adding another 3,736,711 excursionist arrivals. For apple-to-apple comparison, tourist arrival figures are normally used, not excursionist or visitor arrivals. It started after I had written ' Malaysia recorded 29 million visitor arrivals in 2023 ', which was published by Focus Malaysia on Feb 20, 2024. It was picked up by VnExpress and published on Feb 23 under 'Malaysia beats Thailand to become most-visited country in Southeast Asia'. However, my first paragraph explicitly stated that in 2023, Malaysia recorded almost 29 million visitor arrivals and they comprised 20,141,846 foreign tourists and 8,822,462 foreign excursionists, or a total of 28,964,308 foreign visitors, without comparing with other countries. The number of tourists to Thailand that year was more than 28.15 million, far higher than the 20.1 million to Malaysia. Many tourism industry personnel and the media could not distinguish between tourists and visitors, and often made fatal mistakes when reporting arrival figures. Interestingly, Tourism Malaysia is up to speed by updating its Infographic on Visitor Performance to Malaysia until April this year. Tourist arrivals for the first four months of 2025 were 8,356,921 and 5.6% below that of 2019 in the same period. At this rate, the total number for this year will be around 25 million, way below the 31.3 million projected by Tourism Malaysia in February. Fortunately, excursionist arrivals surged by 64%, from 3,048,205 in the first four months of 2019 to 5,027,263. As such, total visitor arrivals to Malaysia in 2025 is likely to reach an historic high of 40 million, compared to 35 million in 2019. Asean countries, especially Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, will continue to provide the bulk of foreign visitors to Malaysia for a very long time. Nevertheless, the greatest growth potential is from the two most populous countries in the world, as long as citizens from China and India are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia, along with over 160 other countries around the globe that have long enjoyed this facility. While Tourism Malaysia continues to adjust its promotions and strategies to suit ever changing source markets, it is up to individual tourism industry players to exploit the full potential of their niche markets that they excel in. The performance of our inbound tourism is measured by two key factors, namely tourism expenditures and foreign arrivals. Both figures must be measured and reported correctly. ‒ June 5, 2025 YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant. The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia. Main image: AP Photo/Vincent Thian
