Live, Laugh & Love - Life is too short to waste it

Taxi Drivers

They drive around the whole day, ferrying passengers around Singapore. You see them on the streets wherever you go, red, yellow, silver, blue. Everytime we read on the newspapers how hard business is for them, how difficult it is for them to earn. Is that really happening??

Taxi fare, it just keeps going up and up. I still remember when I was young, when we take cab,

Me : (Before getting on cab) Uncle, Tampines to Bedok how much?

Taxi Driver : Orh, $7 lor.

Meters don't exist then, so that's the only way. Sounds like now when you go Bangkok take a cab they are like this right?

So even if they cheat us a few more dollars we also don't know right? But situation doesn't change even with meter around now

Sometimes when I take a cab around, maybe the fare is $6.40. But the uncle will just tell me the fare is $6.50. Ok, I don't mind giving him the 10cents. But its shown on the meter yet you round it off for me?? And it won't be worth being complained over 10cents right?

And then there are those that goes the longest way possible to reach your destination.

Maybe there are people who had complained thats why now most of the taxi drivers i met, they'll ask you which way would you want to go. It just seem illogical to be in the cab for half an hour if I'm going somewhere nearby...

There are some others that I hate just because they tends to show their attitude to you. Hello, where's the customer service?? Usually I will try to prevent giving taxi drivers $50 if the fare is going to be $10 and below. But sometimes if you really don't have change, you got no choice right?

Once, I was helping Enqi move things back from her ex bf place. The cab fare was about $4 plus. But knowing Enqi, usually she don't have small change. So she gave the taxi driver $50. Usually the taxi drivers I encounter they will say, " Do you have any small change?" or "Sorry but I don't have change." Something like that. But that day that uncle was the LIMIT. He said, " Wa, You don't have smaller note ar, cab fare $4 you give me $50." And the thing is he wasn't joking. Or rather he didn't sound like it. For a moment, I thought is I hear wrongly. Then Enqi's ex bf paid him $10 then confront him about what he said. Seriously its damn rude la. No money we can't take cab, don't tell me don't have small notes also cannot take cab ar? And the taxi driver still thinks he said nothing wrong and even quarrelled with us.

And then there was that day, I was coming back home from Gordan's place. I had wanted to go to East Point to get something for lunch. So naturally approaching there then I told the uncle, " You can stop at the bus stop infront of the shopping center."

Guess what the uncle told me, " Orh ok. That one is East Point la, what shopping center shopping center." Then when he was stopping he was still saying like here cannot stop there cannot stop. Hello, The whole stretch of road you can't stop lor. Then why not you just faster drop me off and get lost? And please lor, I also know that one is East Point, but ain't that a shopping center too? I almost felt like throwing my money at him!!

There are also the talkative ones. Of course I'm not saying that they can't talk to customers. But can you please observe the reactions your passengers are having when you want to talk to them? Sometimes I really don't want to talk too much, yet the uncle will just go on and on and on. Its irritating, especially when you are not in the best of mood.

Anyone reading the papers should know that taxi drivers are complaining they are not having as much passengers as the past right? Then how come its still so difficult to get a cab nowadays? And there is still places that they don't go?

I went clubbing that time and i was going to meet Gordan and his friends for supper at Geylang. So me, Suwen and Enqi shared a cab together. So they can drop me off at Geylang and go to Bedok. The uncle had said ok when I told him the the places we want to go. But when we got on the cab, the uncle ask me which part of geylang. Then I told him lorong 9 or something like that. Then he was saying, " There cannot, will jam." I was like, wtf a jam over there at 3am?? And Geylang is not very big lor. If you think there is a jam and you don't want to go there then you shouldn't have tell me ok in the 1st place. I told Gordan about it and even he also say, what jam you want at 3am?

Despite saying so many wrongdoings of taxi drivers, of course they are just the black sheeps. There are really nice uncles too. So I still don't mind taking cab around. Or else think I also go take bus liao... hahha.. Anyway just a post on my thoughts of taxi drivers, please do not think that everyone is like that hor, because they also have to work hard to earn a living too...

So support them, take cab. Bad taxi drivers, complain them!!