When it is hot outside, you do not feel like stepping outside. So you pull out your phone to order lunch and a cold drink.
But while you wait indoors, someone else is riding through that heat to bring your meal to you.
As Malaysia gets hotter, delivery riders are spending long hours on the road under increasingly difficult conditions. A KiniTV survey of 51 delivery riders in the Klang Valley found that 90% felt working conditions had become hotter in recent years, while many reported symptoms such as headaches, dizziness or fatigue.
This report examines the hidden cost of delivery work: how rising heat affects riders’ health and safety, why “flexibility” does not always make it easy to stop, and whether existing protections are adequate.
[ Correction note: An interviewee’s name was misspelt in the video. The correct name is Wan Amirah Wan Usamah, a research associate at Khazanah Research Institute. There was also a subtitle error at 03:44; the line should read: “The fire is being turned up very slowly.” KiniTV regrets the errors. ]
- Sign up for Aliran's free daily email updates or weekly newsletters or both
- Make a one-off donation to Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN), Maybank a/c 507246118995 or CIMB a/c 8004240948
- Make a pledge or schedule an auto donation to Aliran every month or every quarter
- Become an Aliran member
Timestamp
00:00 – Introduction
01:58 – Heat, health and the invisible risks
05:54 – Why can’t riders just stop?
09:56 – Who is responsible?
12:40 – What are the possible solutions?
19:46 – As temperature rises, more protection is needed
Rising temperatures are no longer only an environmental issue, but a challenge that cuts across health, labour and economic policy.
Produced by: KiniTV
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
