A colleague’s USB-C charger broke during a coffee shop sales pitch. Instead of buying a new one from a shop after the meeting, they order a replacement through Grab and it arrived at the café 90 minutes later. Instead of being amazed, they were annoyed it wasn’t delivered in 30 minutes.
Welcome to 2025, where miracles are boring.
The Logistics Nobody Thinks About
Getting a RM15 phone charger delivered involves an absurd chain of events. Factory in China makes it. Ship to Malaysia. Store in warehouse. List online. Customer orders. Payment processes. Rider assigned. Navigate through KL traffic. Find the building. Find the customer.
All because going to a shop feels like too much effort.
The same customer who complains about 90-minute delivery would have thought instant delivery was science fiction ten years ago. Now it’s a basic service that’s apparently too slow.
Everything Arrives Fast Now
Grab brings nasi lemak in 30 minutes. Doesn’t feel special anymore.
I remember when delivery meant calling a restaurant, hoping they delivered to your area, hoping they answered, hoping they had what you wanted, hoping you got what you ordered.. Tracking your order in real-time sounded impossible.
Now customers watch a motorcycle icon on their phone and get angry when it stops at traffic lights.
Singapore makes the impatience even sillier. The whole country is smaller than most delivery zones, but people still complain about wait times. You can see your destination from most pickup points.
Malaysia has proper traffic jams and sprawling suburbs. Riders memorise shortcuts through developments that GPS can’t find. They know that pavements are technically roads when you’re in a hurry. They also know which security guards are helpful and which ones make them wait.
Magic Becomes Normal
Customers expect miracles and immediately want bigger miracles. 90-minute delivery becomes normal, so they want 30 minutes. 30 minutes becomes standard, so they want 15 minutes. Soon they’ll be timing delivery with stopwatches.
Waiting until tomorrow is unacceptable. The whole economy has reorganised around impatience.
The next time delivery takes 90 minutes instead of 30, maybe appreciate that science fiction became real. Then be an ass and leave that one-star review anyway.
After all, what’s the point of living in the future if you can’t complain about it?
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