A Malaysian mother recently sparked an online discussion after questioning the high cost of a carpool service for sending her child to school. The woman, known as energy_baz, took to her Threads account to express her surprise at being quoted RM400 a month for a one-way journey from her home to her child's school, a distance of less than 10 kilometers.

"I was shocked for a moment after seeing the price," she wrote. "Normally, how much is the price range for transportation to take children to school? Just to send to school, and the distance is less than 10km."

Initially, energy_baz had been searching for van or bus services for her child. However, after stumbling upon a carpool service, she was taken aback by the quoted price. To compare, she checked the rates on e-hailing services like Grab and found them significantly cheaper.

"To be specific, the distance is 6.4km for one way only. The school session is in the afternoon, and my house is not in a city area because it's a new development. Upon checking Grab rates to school (during the same timings), it's only RM9 to RM10. For a month, it's RM200," she explained.

The mother questioned whether the RM400 fee accounted for additional expenses like maintenance costs for the service provider's car. "The additional RM200 don't tell me we're supposed to cover the maintenance costs for their car. That's why I was shocked," she said.

While acknowledging that the price might be acceptable in certain areas, energy_baz argued that RM400 was not logical for a one-way journey in her situation.