A Veteran Taxi Driver – 34 Years On The Road
The Maxim taxi driver mentioned that the platform is the only platform that he is currently using, because of the flexibility that Maxim offers to its partner-drivers
Ng Kee Lam spent almost more than half of his life as a taxi driver and is now a full-time partner-driver of Maxim. A middle child among three siblings, he was born and raised in Chow Kit Ng Kee Lam joined Maxim in early 2022 and has been with Maxim ever since, picking up and taking passengers to their destinations.
During an interview with Ng Kee Lam, he said, “Driving across the city of Kuala Lumpur is what I’ve been doing all my life. I started this journey in 1990 when I managed to buy my first car. I started driving when the development of Kuala Lumpur was still on the rise, I’ve managed to see how the city has grown until today. My fondest memory dates back to the time when there were no high-rise buildings, even KLCC was”t there.”
His journey as an e-hailing driver started in early 2022 when most taxi passengers started switching to using e-hailing as their preferred transportation service. It is more systematic and easy for both parties. Ng Kee Lam has been with Maxim for more than two years and is still going strong with the number of completed orders, which is inspiring to many other partner-drivers of Maxim.
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The Taxi Driver and Maxim
He also mentioned that Maxim is the only platform that he is currently using, because of the flexibility that Maxim offers to its partner-drivers. One of the benefits is that the partner-drivers get the opportunity to choose their trips and even have several order filtering options; for example, they can see orders nearest to them, as well as choose different rates, like economy and delivery.
“No days off for me, I drive every day. I even like to drive on weekends because there are many orders on those days. I start my daily routine early at 7:00 AM, work until 11:00 AM, then have some break time for lunch. After that, I resume working at 2:00 PM, finishing my day at 6:00 PM. I take a long rest during lunch because of the age factor; when I was young, I drove all day until midnight.”
In fact, he is not the only one of his colleagues to become a partner-driver of Maxim: most of his taxi driver friends also followed suit. Mokhtar is one of them, and he was the one who introduced the application to Mr. Ng Kee Lam back in 2020, when he brought him to meet a representative of Maxim. The company’s team helped Ng Kee Lam with the application and taught him how to use it.
Taxsee Driver is the platform for Mr. Ng Kee Lam to gain income monthly, where he manages to secure approximately hundreds of orders per month. The interesting part is, his car is also branded with a Maxim car sticker, which allows him to get more benefits, like lower commission, availability of shifts purchase, priority orders, and monthly allowance.
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Work-life balance
“I have my daily target, which is around RM80–RM100. This target helps me keep the motivation to drive and sometimes, when I achieve it early, I take the chance to go back home early and spend time with my wife and grandchildren.”
“I have four beautiful and intelligent grandchildren who stay with me, and sometimes I also pick them up from school in the Maxim car. They are proud of who I am. I still remember one of my grandchildren also wanted to drive Maxim when she grows up.”
Ultimately, for some, age is no barrier to continue working. Mr Ng Kee Lam is living proof that even at the age of 78, one can still drive around daily and make monthly income. His advice to all is to stay productive and spend time doing meaningful things.