PETALING JAYA: Female e-hailing drivers and food vendors are adopting personal safety measures when they work to ensure they are safe when meeting the public.
E-hailing driver Norkhairana Pilus, 51, said she is reducing her working hours as well as being more choosy when selecting passengers to ensure her safety.
“I have only recently started working as an e-hailing driver and I took jobs until midnight when I started.
“However, after the Kuantan incident, I decided to only work until 8pm,” she said, referring to the incident on Thursday when a woman was allegedly murdered before her remains were found by a river.
Norkhairana said if she needs to work at night, she will try to take female passengers only.
“I can only have faith that God is protecting me, because I still need to work,” she said in an interview.
Norkhairana, from Seremban, asked e-hailing service companies to ensure that only registered passengers can use their mobile application.
There are instances where the users are not registered and only labelled as guests, adding that she plans to install a dashcam in her car.
Santy Kadir, 39, from Melaka, said she is also extra cautious when accepting delivery requests from passengers.
“I do feel scared, but I’m always prepared. I have a dashcam.
“I would also consider the pick-up and delivery location to see whether it is safe.
“I would also check the rating of the passenger, if their rating is below 4.5, I’ll be more alert when transporting the passenger,” she said.
Santy also said she avoids locations which are too far or isolated.
“I will cancel the request for my safety,” she said.
She suggested that e-hailing services consider waiving the charge for cancellation made by drivers if it was done for safety reasons.
Halimatussadiah, 36, who takes dessert orders online, said she only sends her orders personally when the location is nearby or if the person ordering is someone she knows.
“I use runners or a delivery service to send the items to places located far away,” she said.
Bar Council Family Law Committee chairman Kee Hui Yee said e-hailing services should provide an in-app emergency assistance button for the riders.
“Additional features can also be included, such as a notification to be sent to the headquarters 10 to 15 minutes after the estimated delivery time is up but they have yet to receive a status report from the rider.
“The HQ could then call the rider to check on them.”
Kee said while body cameras can be costly, having this safety device could help protect both the rider and customer.
“With the increase in use of e-wallet as a payment mode, platforms may consider phasing out or reducing cash transactions.
“There should be no direct collection of money from the customer,” she said, adding that e-hailing or delivery platforms should also consider incorporating a self- defence workshop in the training or onboarding session.
There has been a lot of discussion on social media related to the safety of women workers following the woman’s death.
Norshamira Zainal, 37, a food vendor, was allegedly murdered before her body was found by Sungai Kuantan near Tanjung Lumpur Bridge.
A 53-year-old man has been arrested on Saturday at a house in the Wakaf Tembesu Gong Badak residential area in Kuala Terengganu.
Police investigations revealed that the victim’s jewellery was missing and there were signs of injury on her body.
