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Cabbies in Singapore.

I remember not long ago, there was a debate about the Singapore transportation system in the media, highlighting the bus services (I was one of them *sheepish grin*). So it is not surprising that the spearhead (矛头) is now pointing at our dear cabbies. If you read the copy of Today on Monday, you would have read about the letters too.

Before some of you go on to say Singaporeans are a bucha whinners who complain too much, maybe you'd wanna see this as yet another effort at continuous improvement, a process embarked by our nation since 40 years ago (in the form of lifelong education, increasing our competitiveness, and the recent re-training for the workforce), which has paid off quite well. A point worth reiterating.

My experiences with taxi drivers so far had been generally good. In fact there were only a handful of times when I was unhappy with the driver. Mostly they were the times were drivers drive too fast and the taxis where vibrating really badly, or drivers don’t ask me for preferred route and insisted on taking the longer expressways, which ironically increased the traveling time, and resulted in the “hell-style” speeding. And one incident I remembered was mostly my fault. It was during my army days. I took a cab home after clubbing past midnight. Unfortunately, I only realized I was short of cash after I almost reached home. When the cab reached my doorstep, the fare was over twenty-five dollars (due to the midnight surcharge). I was short of around one dollar and told the driver honestly. He insisted on me paying the full, giving me the look that I purposely cheated his money. So I guided him to the nearby ATM while the meter was continuously running. Before I got off, he told me to leave my wallet behind, in case I run off. It was clearly my fault but I felt he could have deal with it better and not generate so much negative feelings.

In TODAY 12 Dec 2005, Ms Angela Png’s letter “Don’t just sit there, help me load luggage”, she commented that taxi drivers have stopped helping passengers load and unload their luggage. In my eight times moving in and out of hall, the taxi drivers had all gone out all the way to help me with my stuffs. They helped me pack the things nicely in the cab, and even helped me unload them all the way to my lift landing. I think it is a gesture that will benefit both customers and drivers, especially if the cab stop by the roadside where it will be hazardous to stop for too long.

In Mr Steve Ngo’s letter “Preferred route? The fastest and quickest one, obviously...”, he pointed that “there is no such thing as a ‘preferred route’, only the shortest or quickest.” I'd beg to differ on this. I think it is good that drivers ask for preferred route as passengers may know the best way to their destination if they are familiar with the route. At different time of the day, the journey on the same road may vary greatly due to the traffic and rate which the traffic lights change signals. As drivers travel all over the island, it is understandable if they are not familiar with the traffic conditions on those routes. Some may prefer the expressway for smooth driving (which may not be true at certain hours). Passengers may also know a shortcut to their destinations. An example is when I take cab from Bishan to Yishun, cab drivers will normally go by CTE, SLE, Lentor, through Yishun Central, Ring Road, then to my place. However, I'll prefer through AMK, Lentor, Yishun Ave 1, Ring Road, then to my place. This is a much faster and cheaper route, especially during the night when traffic is light. While passengers are also unfamiliar, they will have to depend on the cab drivers' judgement.

Mr Ngo also mentioned that "London taxi drivers must pass an examination that tests them on roads and locations in the city". I think cab drivers in Singapore also have to go through a similar test as this to qualify for the taxi driver licence.

In Mr Jeffrey Law's letter "Why should we pay extra for politeness?", he said that "We must not create an environment where we have to pay extra for politeness, honesty, safety and cleanliness while travelling in a taxi or shopping in a retail." I totally agree with him. In fact, shouldn't we be polite to everyone no matter if you are providing a service or not? Let me divert abit and talk describe this incident at Yamaha Plaza Singapura yesterday. We were at the counter looking for someone to service us. I think the lady at the counter was probably not in-charged of servicing the customers as she gave us the annonyed look, like telling us "Why are you asking me? Don't bother me." And she replied to our enqury in a very rude tone before another much more professional lady came to service us. This is an example of people who get irritated when they have to do something which may be outside their jobscope. I think the least she could have done was to tell us politely that she did not know and get someone to service us. Even a little smile would have made us feel much better.

Back to cab drivers, I think they are generally very polite too. Usually they will try to chat up with me, and if I only reply a single sentence to their questions, they'll know that I don't feel like talking and only talk to me to ask for preferred directions. But if I am keen in talking to them, they can be very interesting. I usually ask them about what shifts they work and whether it is very tiring or hard to get passengers. The answer is obvious, but I think it'll be nice to let them know that passengers also understand the difficulties in their job. And at night, when I reach my destination, they will usually wish me well, which makes my trips really pleasant.

My only grumbles about cabbies are that sometimes during peak hours or before the midnight surcharge starts, it is so difficult to get a cab. I will say the latter situation is the fault of some black sheeps. Even though there are so many taxis in Singapore, during the morning rush hours, there are really many people hiring cab. And after the peak hours, the number of people taking cab drops tremendously. Cabbies can only pick up passengers occasionally, usually going to or back from markets, etc. They make less than ten dollars for these short distances. Of course, they some passengers is better than having none, but it is really tough for taxi drivers to earn a decent living.

It is unfortunate that the writers witnessed so many incidents where cab drivers were less than helpful or not ethical, but it is good that they pointed it out and maybe those guilty of such acts will do something. I am sure both the drivers and passengers will like to make their journey a pleasant one!

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