Letter to the Editor | Why I am (reluctantly) not supporting Sunday’s Uber rally

Dear Editor,

To say I am conflicted is an understatement. All those around me are crying at the probable demise of Uber in Macau, and vowing to kick up a storm at the protest rally to be held Sunday in support of Uber. But I am not so sure.
As an administrator of the Macau Taxi Driver Shame Facebook Group and the President of the Macau Taxi Passengers Association, I am absolutely dedicated to the cause of fixing Macau’s shockingly bad taxi industry. The long-standing despicable practices of the industry are well documented. Fishing, refusing rides, taking the “scenic route”, tricking and lying to customers, horrible taxi maintenance, poor driver hygiene, zero service culture, frequent violence and even indecent assault are, sadly, all too common. In practice, you can’t even call a taxi by phone in Macau – who ever heard of a situation like that in a modern progressive city?
There is absolutely no doubt Macau needs an Uber-like service, where riders and drivers are connected efficiently and payment is made via a phone app. This is the way of the future and how on earth can Macau be the world-class tourist destination the government says it wants our fine city to be without this? It’s fast becoming the norm in today’s modern world. The old taxi model, which has changed little since the days of the Hansom cab, is dying.
When some executives from Uber visited me many months before Uber launched in Macau, I was excited. Here at last was the solution! These guys would give Macau taxis a run for their money. Everyone knows competition improves service for the customer, and Uber’s presence in Macau could well be the game-changer we needed.
I was vaguely aware of Uber’s poor corporate reputation and the controversies surrounding its maverick CEO Travis Kalanick – but to be honest I didn’t care much. I just wanted Uber to work in Macau, and enthusiastically started to tell them about the unique quirks of Macau and how if they were to succeed here they needed to get the government on side. I also explained some of the vested interests of powerful people in Macau and the delicate negotiations required to make it all work. My underlying message was that if the government didn’t want Uber the government would stop Uber – one way or the other! So they had to get the government on side.
To my extreme dismay, these pleas of taking a conciliatory approach to entering the market fell on deaf ears. Uber entered the Macau market pretty much the same way it enters every market – as so-called “disrupters” who would show everyone who’s boss and how things should be done, trying to force the law to change in their wake. This is the absolute worst way for any business to enter Macau, and quite frankly is very bad for society. Imagine if every business took the “I’ll do what I like and you change the laws to catch up with me” approach.
Let’s be honest, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. No-
one likes being told what to do, least of all the powers that be in Macau. Just look at some of the angst that occurred in the early days of gaming liberalisation a decade ago when the foreign resort operators first entered the Macau gaming market.
Sadly Uber eschewed the idea of working with the establishment in a conciliatory way, and chose to barge on in uninvited and “shake things up”. As Uber has sown, Uber has reaped. The powers that be showed they can move very quickly when they want to. They declared Uber illegal within 24 hours of the shingle being hung out. They have methodically strangled Uber’s business model through endless police stings and fines. They have made life inconvenient for Uber drivers and passengers unlucky enough to be caught in Uber sting operations. All of this was absolutely predictable.
Uber is not the right fit for Macau. Their corporate culture is antagonistic and aggressive, even arrogant. Just google “Uber Kalanick horror stories” and you’ll see what I mean.
The concept of an app-based ride hailing service is fantastic, and Macau desperately needs it. Perhaps in the wake of Didi Chuxing’s legalisation in mainland China, we will see Didi enter the market. Perhaps one of the existing taxi organisations will create an Uber clone. Perhaps an Uber competitor will enter the market and not make the mistakes Uber made. I do not know which, if any, of these things will happen – but one thing I do know for sure.
Someone, someday, maybe sooner than we think, will fill the void created by Uber’s departure.

Andrew Scott
President, Macau Taxi
Passengers Association