WATCH: Rapper Aman RA Pays Heartfelt Tribute to P-Hailing Riders That Died During MCO

By Karissa Lund  •  21 Apr 2021 in Music

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Coinciding with his birthday yesterday (20 April), Malaysian rapper Aman RA paid tribute to p-hailing riders who lost their lives while on-duty ever since MCO started.

The heartfelt spoken word poetry was accompanied by visuals and was uploaded on TikTok which then gained 65K views in just an hour. He brought up different reasons as to why riders do what they do and unfortunately, the many ways they have fallen.

He also mentioned that “1,684 p-hailing riders died during MCO”, a figure that since been disputed by the Transport Ministry (MOT) yesterday.

Numbers aside, with road safety and bad weather generally being an issue in Malaysia, are we really taking care of our riders?

Watch Aman RA’s tribute here:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Aman RA (@amanracom)

ICYMI, Kosmo reported that more than two-thirds of the 2,576 deaths of motorcyclists during the MCO period last year involved a group of riders of goods and food delivery services (p-hailing). The Transport Ministry has since issued a statement saying that the numbers reported are false as the total number of deaths is actually 17.

The news portal got the stat from a statement from Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, who said, based on statistics from the Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department, Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), there were 7,525 road accident cases during the period.

“Of the 2,576 deaths of motorcyclists recorded, two-thirds (over 1,700) were those who served in p-hailing. Sadly, the accidents claimed the lives of many young riders, most of whom served in p-hailing,” he said at the launch of the P-Hailing Road Safety Campaign on 10 April.

However, the Transport Ministry (MOT) said yesterday through a Facebook post, that the report of deaths involving p-hailing riders had been misinterpreted. MOT said the numbers provided during the P-Hailing Safety Campaign programme held did not specifically refer to two-thirds of the total 2,576 road deaths involving p-hailing riders.

With that, it is important to note that many riders have stopped working as many are fed up with companies that allegedly have cut or reduced the incentives for riders, among other reasons. In the past, riders would receive an incentive for making deliveries in bad weather, which according to some riders, makes it worth the risk riding under harsh conditions.

“Most of us might be young, but riding for hours in harsh weather is no joke. It takes a toll physically, mentally and emotionally,” said Zulfikar, a rider and father of two.