Have MakCik, will travel – and chaperone too

KUALA LUMPUR: The mother-and-daughter team of Dr Sazlina Kamaralzaman and Siti Sarah Anuar is determined to give established e-hailing companies a run for their money.

They incorporated “MakCik Travels” last November to provide women with a safer option for ride-hailing services.

Starting with 20 drivers, they now have more than 200 drivers and receive some 800 bookings every month, not only in the Klang Valley but also in states such as Kedah, Perak and Kelantan.

They are targeting to have 400 drivers and 200 chaperones on board nationwide by year-end.

To be different from other e-hailing companies, they introduced a chaperone service in April this year to assist senior citizens and women with disabilities to go to the clinic, hospital or other places.

Dr Sazlina, 48, a lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said it all started when her daughter Siti Sarah, 20, was studying at Kajang Vocational College and offered ride-sharing services to fellow female students in the campus who wished to go to nearby destinations.

Seeing good demand, Dr Sazlina decided to join forces with her daughter and expand the service to the local community in Bangi, Selangor, where they lived.

“Using our savings of RM10,000 as capital we registered MakCik Travels,” she said, adding that later they expanded their service to Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and other states.

MakCik Travels offers two types of services, namely MakCik Drives where the driver picks up the customer and sends her to her destination, and MakCik Chaperone where a companion will assist the customer with her needs.