A top minister slammed Malaysia’s taxi drivers, saying they were more of a problem for the tourism industry than the nation’s notoriously filthy toilets, amid reports that tourists are being taken for a ride in more ways than one.
“The complaints by tourists about the taxi drivers’ behavior are more than toilets now, so in that context the taxi drivers are worse than dirty toilets,” cabinet minister Nazri Aziz said.
“People are complaining about the taxi drivers overcharging, being impolite and not using their meters, forcing the tourists to bargain with them,” he told AFP.
“This is the third-world taxi driver mentality. Even in China now, taxi drivers can no longer haggle, they just have to take the passengers, no questions asked.
“It’s not that all taxi drivers behave like that, it’s just a small group of them but that is already giving Malaysia a bad name,” said Nazri, who is a minister in the prime minister’s department.
Complaints about taxis are common the world over, but it has become a hot topic in Malaysia, where frustrations are vented on blog sites and in letters to newspapers.
In a survey by the local magazine The Expat last year, some 200 foreigners from 30 countries rated Malaysia the worst among 23 countries in terms of taxi quality, courtesy, availability and expertise.
The respondents lashed the fleet as “a source of national shame” and “a serious threat to tourists — rude bullies and extortionists.”
(AFP)
面對觀光客被計程車司機以各種手段坑錢的報導,馬來西亞一位最高官員猛烈抨擊該國計程車司機,說他們對觀光業的負面影響,更甚馬國惡名昭彰的骯髒廁所。
內閣部長納茲里.阿濟茲說:「遊客對計程車司機行為的抱怨比對廁所的抱怨還多,也就是說,計程車司機比骯髒的廁所還不如。」
他對法新社表示:「民眾抱怨計程車司機喊價過高、態度無禮,還有不跳錶計費,迫使遊客和他們討價還價。」
「這是第三世界國家計程車司機的思維。現在就連在中國,計程車司機也不再(講價),他們只能載客,不能問問題。」
總理署部長納茲里說:「並不是所有的計程車司機都那樣,只是少數人的行為已經讓馬來西亞冠上惡名。」
抱怨計程車是全世界常見的情形,但在馬來西亞卻已成為發燒話題,民眾紛紛利用部落格和投書報紙的方式表達不滿。
當地雜誌《The Expat》去年針對約兩百名來自三十個國家的外國旅客做了一項評分調查,結果馬來西亞的計程車在素質、禮貌、載客率和專業度方面,名列二十三個國家之末。
調查對象怒斥馬來西亞的計程車隊是「國家之恥」,也是「對觀光客的一大威脅──無禮的惡霸和敲詐者」。
(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110