Malaysia: meal delivery or VTC drivers to survive during the health crisis
Audio 02:32
In Ampang, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, Ida Azerin Razali and her neighbors brave confinement to distribute free food to delivery men and VTC drivers, under a blazing sun.
© RFI / Gabrielle Maréchaux
By: Gabrielle Maréchaux Follow
7 min
In Malaysia, the coronavirus crisis gave birth to new insecure people.
Young graduates or unemployed people who are turning to a new profession so as not to sink into poverty: meal delivery or VTC, employees for companies like the giant Grab or its competitors.
They roam the empty streets of Kuala Lumpur in search of new orders, their eyes riveted on the app that puts them in touch with customers, often hungry.
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It is a situation, to say the least, paradoxical: while a part of confined Malaysia orders meals on the internet, another delivers them, often on an empty stomach.
A woman decided to feed them.
“
They don't have time to eat because they are always on the lookout for a new order.
Because we must not forget that they are paid less than one euro per race.
Because they also want to be able to set aside as much money as possible because in Kuala Lumpur, living on less than 400 or 600 euros is to be poor.
"
And since Ida Azerin Razali posts every noon on the side of the road with a sign where it is written "FREE FOOD", she has seen a wide variety of profiles, and new unemployed.
“
I saw former pilots, former engineers, I also saw a single mother, the first day, she had her child with her on her motorcycle.
"
Usually, Ida does not need more than an hour to distribute the hundred or so packed meals.
“
Today we have spicy fried chicken with rice.
It's my sister who prepared everything, it's homemade!
"
Among these two-wheeled meal delivery men who stop quickly between races, there is Katy 20 years old and just graduated.
“
With the Covid, it has become very difficult to find a job because we are hiring mainly in fields such as marketing and I have a diploma in logistics.
And then I only have a license, not a master.
"
But even those who have earned a Masters find themselves working for Grab, waiting for better days.
Abu is a taxi for this company, a profession to which Ida also gives packed lunches.
You have to get into your vehicle to be able to talk to her.
“
I started working for Grab in parallel with my studies because I had to earn some money to support myself, buy food every day and now I continue to be a Grab driver but full time .
"
He now works 12 hours a day for sometimes only 8 euros, because many other taxis ply the deserted streets of Kuala Lumpur in search of the few customers who step outside.
"
If I have to go to Grab's headquarters, I give up because in front of the building there is a very long line of people who want to check in to become a delivery man or a driver, so I know I would have to wait a long time to get to the reception.
"
But if the aspiring drivers are waiting, so will Abu.
“
In the afternoon, I have to wait between one and two hours on average to find a new race.
And what are you doing during this time?
“
Well I read savings books.
"
Readings that fuel this finance graduate's dream of one day being an entrepreneur.
While waiting for the end of the pandemic, the young man of 24 years considers himself lucky, when some drivers would like the percentage taken by their company to be reduced, he believes that we should not ask too much.
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Malaysia
Economic crisis
Coronavirus
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