TRANSPORT Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook’s announcement of the new road tax ruling is generating buzz on Twitter with social activist Siti Kassim expressing support for the initiative.
However, former de-facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is facing a backlash on the social media platform for criticising Loke’s move.
To set the record straight, Loke made a game-changing announcement yesterday (Feb 10) whereby instead of displaying a physical road tax sticker on their windscreen, car owners can now prove their valid road tax through a convenient app.
“This is to me the best decision made by this government. I’ve always hated the damn thing. Not to mention the sticky stuff left on the screen,” she sang praises of the Seremban MP on her Twitter account. “Thank you @anthonyloke. You should be our PM (Prime Minister) lah. I’m sure all these rubbishes we’re seeing will not happen”.
In a reply to her tweet, cpeng (@cpengt88) lamented that private vehicle owners “still can’t renew online”. “Should be more convenient in renewing the road tax,” he stressed.
Agreeing with Siti Kasim that “this is the right move”, netizen yy2023 (@ss2022x) is interested to know how the authority will go about inspecting vehicles if required. “I am hoping we would not need to show (the digitised road tax) with our phone. How about those area with low internet coverage?” he asked.
However, cs foong (@csfoong) stated that it would be better for the Transport Ministry to attend to “the atrocious traffic jams and allowing dark tints rather than these silly small changes (digital road tax).”
Likewise, netizen Tajuddin Kamil (@TajuddinKamil) noted that apart from the innovative rad tax display, the Road Transport Department (RTD) must make it compulsory for heavy vehicles to use brand new tyres instead of re-treaded or second-hand ones.
“We see so many broken tyres lying on the roads daily. These pieces of rubber cause accidents or damage other vehicles,” he observed.
On a similar topic, Zaid tried to take a jibe at Loke with his tweet: “Not displaying your license is not a big thing; other countries do not even require you to pay road tax; or just pay once every few years. Try something real, Mr Anthony Loke” only to see it backfire on him.
Peng Seong, the one (@Cashisnotking1) chided the UMNO member for never bringing up the subject “during the failed 33 months” when Barisan Nasional (BN) was in power. “You are against DAP (Loke’s party) and not the real issue, En Zaid Ibrahim,” chastised the netizen.
Netizen AFRAL (@AfralAbdullah) also came to Loke’s defence that there has been lots of complaints with regard to the poor quality of the road tax disc.
“It became a ‘big thing’ to its owners when information on it became invisible in a short time, and worst, when it can no longer stick to the windscreen. Why compare with other countries? What is your argument? DAP?” he asked.
Interestingly, Zaid met his true match when netizen Mebert (@c1t0d0s1) educated him that “many countries don’t use the word ‘road tax’ including Malaysia”.
“It’s officially lesen kenderaan motor (motor veocle license) in Malaysia. Other places might call it ‘vehicle registration fees’. You still have to pay $$$ to the governments to drive cars on public roads,” added Merbert. – Feb 11, 2023
