WHILE most of the city is still asleep at 3 am, 65-year-old Presly Nyayul is already at Kuching International Airport, waiting behind the wheel of his taxi for passengers.
For more than 15 years, the taxi has been his livelihood. But today, the early mornings, long hours and endless waiting no longer come with the certainty of a decent income.
Presly arrives at the airport before dawn, hoping each arriving flight will bring a passenger and, with it, another opportunity to earn enough for the day.
Yet the hours can pass without a single trip.
At 8 am, when Sarawak Tribune spoke to him, Presly had already been at the airport for hours but had yet to secure a passenger.
For a man who has spent more than a decade driving through Kuching to make a living, it is a painful reflection of how far the taxi trade has fallen.
“Sometimes, I can spend five, six or even seven hours before getting one trip. There are days when I come here early in the morning and just wait, hoping that a passenger will choose the taxi,” he said.
There are days when he manages only two trips, earning about RM25 per journey to destinations such as Kuching Central or the BDC area.
Two trips can mean just RM50 for hours spent waiting.
And yet, Presly keeps returning.
He recalled a time when taxi driving could earn him between RM2,000 and RM3,000 a month. Today, he said, even reaching RM1,000 can be a struggle.
“Before, it was easier. When there was no Grab, we could make RM2,000 to RM3,000 a month. Now, even RM1,000 is difficult. Sometimes you work the whole day, but there are just not enough passengers,” he said.
Behind those figures is a profession slowly being squeezed by changing travel habits and the rise of e-hailing services such as Grab and Maxim.
Presly said the competition had made it increasingly difficult for traditional taxi drivers to find passengers, particularly at the airport.
He believes stronger support for airport taxis could help revive the trade, including measures to prevent e-hailing services from picking up passengers directly from the airport.
“From the airport, if passengers are coming from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or other places, they should use the airport taxis. That is how the taxi industry can come back to life,” he said.
Presly also hopes better incentives and support can keep the industry alive and give younger people a reason to consider getting behind the wheel.
He is willing to see young people enter the profession, but believes they would struggle to make a living if they had to compete with Grab and Maxim under the current conditions.
“If young people want to join, I support them. But if they have to compete like this with Grab and Maxim, it will be very difficult for them to make a living,” he said.
The difficulty of attracting younger drivers is something Presly knows personally.
His own children have no interest in following him into the trade, a decision he understands given the long hours and uncertainty involved.
“They do not want to follow me into this work. I understand because sometimes you spend five, six or seven hours waiting before you get one trip. It is not easy for young people to see a future in that,” he said.
But while the veteran driver worries about the survival of the profession, the views of younger Sarawakians suggest that better conditions would be needed to bring them into the industry.
At 35, Augusteen Douglas Steel is open to considering taxi driving, but said the profession would have to offer better income, benefits and flexibility to compete with e-hailing.
“I am open to considering taxi driving if the income and benefits are suitable. It can provide an opportunity to earn, but I also have to look at the cost of fuel, maintenance and whether the income is stable,” he said.
Augusteen currently leans towards e-hailing because of its flexibility, although he has not completely ruled out traditional taxi driving.
“For me, good and stable income is definitely one of the main factors. Flexible working hours are also very important because I want to have the freedom to decide when I work,” he said.
He believes the profession would need to offer better conditions to convince more young people to consider taxi driving.
“I think higher income, better incentives, flexible working hours, welfare protection and the use of more modern technology could make taxi driving more attractive to young people,” he said.
For Augusteen personally, such improvements could make him more willing to give the profession a try, although he would prefer to start part time rather than immediately commit to it as a full time career.
“I would probably try it part time first. If I found that the income was stable and worthwhile, then I could consider doing it full time,” he said.
At 24, however, Timothy Sebuang is less inclined to take that path.
Timothy said he did not see taxi driving as a career suited to him.
“I don’t feel like driving passengers is a suitable career for me. It is not something I see myself choosing as a long term career,” he said.
When given the choice between traditional taxi driving and e-hailing, Timothy said his preference was clear.
“I would choose e-hailing over taxi driving. Income is also something I would consider because I want to make sure the work I choose can give me a reasonable and stable income,” he said.
Flexible working hours are another consideration for him.
“Flexible working time is important to me because I would prefer to have the freedom to decide when I work. That kind of flexibility makes e-hailing more suitable for me,” he said.
The different views of Presly, Augusteen and Timothy offer three perspectives on the future of the taxi trade.
For Presly, taxi driving has been a livelihood for more than 15 years, even as the profession has become increasingly difficult.
For Augusteen, it remains a possibility, but only if the industry can offer better income, security and flexibility.
For Timothy, the profession currently holds little appeal as a career.
Their views point to a difficult question facing the taxi industry: how can it retain experienced drivers while convincing a new generation that there is still a future behind the wheel?
For Presly, the hope is that the profession he has spent more than 15 years serving will not disappear before someone is willing to take over.
For now, he keeps waiting.
