I Want to Die.

Before I became a taxi driver, I was certain that taxi drivers in Singapore has all kind of "lobang" ("opportunities" in Malay), especially from "midnight-girls" and I was always curious to find out. Now that I'm a taxi driver myself, do I've such "lobang"?. Do I get "indecent proposal" from mid-night girls or sexual favours as payment for the fare?. Yes, a few to-date, but accepted none, lest my wife demands that I change my job. Anyway, I remember one "offer" that almost got me into trouble with the law.

Around midnight at Geylang Road, I was flagged down by a young girl infront of "Nameless NightClub". She sat beside me and asked me in halting Mandarin to send her to nearby Balestier Road. She looks like a teenager from Vietnam and was seductively dressed in a loose half tank top and denim shots. She was very beautiful with bright eyes, silky long hair and busty assets. As I drove off, I could not control my temptation to steal a quick glance at her a voluptuous bosoms through her loose low-cut tank top. Her thighs were smooth and her denim shorts were so small that it could pass for a pantie. She was like in a two piece swimsuit. This seems to be the standard attire of the Vietnamese mid-night girls in Geylang area. Few could afford the expensive grown worn by the high-end night clubs ladies in the city proper.

Now, coming back to her seductive "assets". Her mouth-watering bosom ignite my sexual hormones like when I was 18 and momentarily, I forgot that I was holding a steering wheel. Luckily, my sexual continence was in working condition and I was able to tame my raging lustful thoughts. She instinctively knew that I had made a mischievous overture just from my mere glance and reckoned that I might be interested in a romantic rendezvous with her. Sure enough, half way through the journey, the young lass began her sales talk. She told me that she worked in a pub near where I picked her. Her day's taking had been bad with hardly any tips from her customers as there were very few. She was worried for her next meal.

I was not surprised at her poor tips as it was a Monday night, when partying crowd is thin.
"Maybe you should switch pub or supplement your income with other work" I said nonchalantly, totally devote of any empathy. I regretted what I said especially the latter words. She was in a sea of unhappy memories before I opened my mouth but upon hearing my suggestions, she became alive with sunrise of hopes for a quick deal.
"Uncle, like to relax and have some fun. I'm very good. We can be friends". She said sweetly with a slight smile. She then leaned side-way towards me, deliberately letting her soft bosom tough my arms and placed her tender right hand on my lap. 
"Uncle is an old man with no money, like you." I said as I stared at her with  a cheeky smile.
"Never mind, come with me. Ok?. She pleaded softly into my ears and began to stroke the thinning hair on my head. She then moved the other hand to my groin and began to gently stroke my private part. In seconds, she was literally all over me. I was stunned by her aggressive sales moves.
"Hey, Stop!. I'm driving". I said angrily as a matter of fact. I regretted the tone I had used.
"You don't like me?" She was startled by my sudden outburst and quickly removed her hands.
"I want to die!". She screamed and then released the safety belt, opened the car door, ready to jump off.
"Hey, Miss, Stop,  I'm Sorry. Ok, Sorry". I pleaded and pulled her towards me. I was stunned dead by her bizarre behavior and her scream still haunt me in my nightmare. Why would she want to kill herself inside my taxi?. Eventually, she removed her hand from the door, which was already half open and started to cry.
I immediately stopped my taxi at a empty bus stop along Balestier Road.
"Miss, Calm down, Don't Cry, Ok?. I consoled her as she swept her tears from her watery eyes. She seems depressed, or was she putting on an act. It doesn't matter to me at that moment. All I was concerned was to ensure that no serious life and death situation happened in my cab.
A few moments later, I asked "Miss, where is your house?".
"Here". she replied, pointing to the row of shop houses.behind the bus stop.
I heaved a sight of relief for the location coincidence and let her off immediately without collecting the $6 fare. As I drove off and through my rear mirror, I saw her settled down on seat at the bus stop, her small figure disappearing from my radar of misery. I felt that I had unloaded a heavy weight from my heart that night.

I knew too many stories like her. I knew how they came, how they got stuck and how they got carried away by the undercurrent of this place. I heard these stories time and again, so much so that I had become immune to the tormenting feeling prompted by them. However, occasionally I let them get the better of me and allowed them to take me for a ride.

                             Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

Kill or Get Killed.

Lately, I notice that my attention span had been getting shorter and shorter by the days. Perhaps, this is a sign that age is catching up with me. There were a few incidents that made me worried that I had actually been inflicted with attention dysfunction.

The first incident happened last night while I was anxiously trying to get into International Business Park in Jurong in respond to a call-booking. When turning right into IBP, I kept looking for traffic coming towards me only, without looking  at my right. As I turned right at accelerating speed, I suddenly saw an Indian man in the middle of the road. I hit my brakes instantly and my taxi was just inches away from hitting him. I'm sure he would have died if I had collided into him because I was turning at high speed. He screamed at me furiously as I drove timidly away. I felt sorry for him and was angry with myself for being so "careless". I could have killed him.

Again, a few nights ago. I stopped at a wide traffic light junction at Kampong Java/Moulmein Road and waited for the lights to change "Green" in my favor. Through my left eye, I saw a Green light flashing and thought that its was for me to move ahead. I hit the accelerator hard without a second thought. As I reached the middle of the intersection, I suddenly realized that the Red lights were still ON. The Green flashing lights I saw earlier was actually for vehicles turning left only. I was stunned when it drawn on me that I had recklessly headed off at a Red light. Luckily, traffic was light and no vehicle crossed the intersection at that critical moment. A fatal collision could have resulted with serious consequences. God had spared both my male passenger's and my life. I've never been so careless in my entire 40 years of driving and last night incident was a lesson that I'll never forget for a long time.

On hindsight, it was probably my chit chat with my passenger about the recent Malaysia/Singapore soccer match that made me lost my focus and attention. In any case, it should not be an excuse. I could have got myself killed together with my passenger.

I spent about 10 hours a night plying the roads in Singapore and it's quite tiring toward the end of the night. Inevitably, given the traffic volume in this sprawling city, where road courtesy is rare and taxi driving is a cut throat business, it's common for traffic accidents to happen. And I do make mistakes. I know that a car is a weapon on the road. It could kill someone or get myself killed. Each night as I start off on my job, I remind myself that it doesn't matter how much I earn, I must get home safely in one piece and get nobody killed.

For entertainment, you can watch some funny car incidents at this link:
http://youtu.be/OrI3GjiS2Sk

A Cheating Case

A few years back, fraudulent accident insurance claims were rampant.
I remember a case of a mastermind behind a group of people who conspired to claim compensation for injuries purportedly sustained in traffic accidents amounting to nearly $96,000. The mastermind was eventually jailed for six years and his six accomplices were each given one year jail sentence.

The police became very vigilant and investigated almost all cases of personal  injuries accident insurance claims for suspicious fraud. Unfortunately, I became a "victim" of their over zest work ethics.

This was how it happened,

On 20/9/2009 at about 1.20am, while cruising along Serangoon North Ave 4, I stopped at the traffic light junction and waited for the traffic light to turn green.

Suddenly, a yellow taxi collided forcefully onto the rear of my vehicle.
I felt a strong jerk and the strong impact shook my body violently.
I felt giddy and nausea and had to take a few minutes to get out of my taxi to check the damage.
By then the other taxi driver was already out of his cab smoking a cigarette. I lighted one too.
He looks like about my age but was much slimmer with an over size shirt.
I told him that it was his fault to hit the back of my taxi and reasoned with him that since we were both taxi drivers with meager income, I asked him to compensate me $100 to settle the matter amicably.
He flatly refused my offer without giving any reason. I was stunned by his refusal.
I then informed him that I had to claim the damages sustained through my company and drove off immediately to deposit my taxi at my company workshop.

Because I suffered considerable pain on my neck, back and chest areas, I sought medical treatment at a clinic and was given medication and 3 days medical leave. I also made a police report and submitted an insurance claim for personal injuries through my lawyer. Our company had taught us to use this procedure for all claims.

About a month later, the Traffic Police called me to attend an interview at their HQ in Ubi Road regarding the accident. I arrived punctually and was interviewed by a young Chinese female police officer. She looks gentle and demure, more like a kinder-garden teacher than a stern police officer. But I was wrong when she started to query me fiercely on every sentences of my police report. She was hoping to discover discrepancies in my report during the interview. But I stuck to every words in my report and did not squirmed under her questioning. I left an hour later feeling relieved.

Another month passed and nothing happens. Then one evening, I received a letter from The Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force. The contents of the letter was serious. It says that Under Section 120 of the Criminal Procedure Code, I had to attend an interview for investigation into a case of Cheating. The letter of summon clearly stated that failure to comply with the order might constitute an offence under Section 174 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. I was shocked as I've never ran foul of the law in my life except for speeding and beating traffic lights.

Nevertheless, I arrived at Cantonment Road HQ smartly dressed in long sleeve shirt to give a gentleman appearance instead of a hooligan. At the waiting area, the walls were filled with framed hanging of countless newspaper cuttings of previous convicted cheating cases. It gave me an uneasy feeling but I told myself that I had nothing to fear. After a short wait, a short, skinny man with long hair ushered me to his office. He looks more like a petty thief than a senior investigation officer. Looks can be very deceiving.

Without wasting any time, he started to interrogate me on whether I've connection with a group of known insurance claim fraudsters. Placing photos of previous convicts on his table, he tried to intimidate me to admit my acquaintance with them. But they were total strangers to me and I vehemently denied any connection. When he questioned me on my police report of the accident, I replied eloquently in perfect English and he was visibly impressed.  All this while, he was typing my answers into his computer. Finally, he passed me my statements and I signed it without hesitation as they tallied totally with my original report. I heaved a sigh of relief and left the office.

Almost simultaneously, two letters arrived at my letter box about a month later, The first was from the Traffic Police. It states that their investigation into the accident has not produced any substantive results and their findings do not affect insurance or civil claims.
The second was from the Commercial Affairs Department. It states that after having carefully considered all the relevant facts and circumstances surrounding the case, they are of the view that no criminal offence were disclosed.  

 In retrospect, my experience with the police had not change my perspective of laws in Singapore. As long as you are innocent, you have nothing to fear.
      
 

A Pauline Hanson

An hour into the evening peak hour at 6pm, a Caucasian lady boarded my taxi at Bishan MRT taxi stand and told me to send her to Sheldford Road off Durnean Road.
She looked like in a late stage of  pregnancy from the size her tummy and the way she steadied herself onto the back seat.
I reminded myself that I had to drive smoothly during the journey and avoid any sudden breaks or speeding over humps, so that she would not suffer undue stress.
A scolding two years back from a pregnant passenger for giving her a rough ride was still vivid in my memory and I do not want to repeat the mistakes again.
Moreover, the life of an unborn child and a prospective mother were in my hand then.

After she had settled herself comfortably in my cab, I asked her which way she would like me to take.
It was a standard question that we normally ask our passenger before driving off and also a form of customer service as preached by our company. For me, it's the rule of the thump in my line of work to always take the route the customer prefers, if he or she has one. Often, if we do not ask politely,  we would received blunt rebuttal,  like
1. "You are the taxi driver, you don't know which way to take, meh?".
2. "You should know the best way, why ask me!".
3. "If you don't know the way, how come you are driving a taxi".
4. "Don't ask me stupid questions!"

After some years of receiving such obnoxious rebuttals, I rephrase my question more politely,  like:

"Do you have a preferred route that you would like me to take or we go by......,,,,........" 

It sounds better.

Unfortunately, I forgot my polite question that evening and the journey started off on a sour mood with a rude rebuttal from the lady. However, the worst was yet to come at the end of the trip.

The journey was smooth along Lionel Road till Adam Road.
To get to her final destination at Sheldford Road, I had to go under Adam Road's flyover to join Bukit Timah Road and then made an "U-Turn" about 500 meters down the road into Duanean Road.
As soon as we went beneath the Adam flyover, we got caught in a massive traffic jam and it stretched as far as our eyes could see along Bukit Timah Road.
Traffic was hardly moving and I was at the furthest right lane of a three lanes road.
Sensing that the fare meter was ticking away furiously while we were only inching ahead, the lady suddenly announced that she wanted to disembark at Coronation Plaza, which was about 200 meters on the left lane.
Taken aback and feeling indignant by her sudden request to change her destination, I told her in a louder than usual voice that it was difficult, dangerous and almost impossible to change lane in that jam situation.
She went into a rage upon hearing my reply and started to display her customer's superiority by insisting that I follow her instruction.
"I won't take your "SHIT". You local taxi drivers are all the same. I'll make a complaint on you",. She said in a furious and venomous tone.
"Go ahead, make your complaint. I'll print a receipt for you so that you have all my detail for your complaint"
I challenged her in defiance.
She was still fuming and altering all sorts of nasty things that were best ignored, when I shouted.
"Shut up, I don't want to talk to you again."
Silence then engulfed my cab.
After much difficulty filtering through the traffic jam, I finally dropped her at Coronation Plaza and gave her a receipt as promised. All the while, I did not make eye contact with her. Till today, I've no idea how she looks like. I reckon she must have resembled "Mrs. Pauline Hanson" of Australia, the racist Asian hater.

A few days later, a PRO. from Comfort called and asked me whether I've an argument with a lady on that day. I explained the whole situation to him and he seemed satisfied.

I've no wish to pass a moral judgement on this episode and certainly do not wish for a repeat.

A Drunken Man.

Every cabby has a sad story to tell about an encounter with a drunken customer. I've one too.

We can smell a drunk by the way he walks, dress and flagging of his hands. We avoid such troublesome customers at all cost but sometime we are taken by surprise when a decoy is used.  A sober man would flag down our cab and then dump his drunken friend from nowhere. At times, we are ambushed at traffic junctions and side walks with no chance of escape.
Our fear is not only the non-payment of fare, washing of vomits in the cab but also the difficulty in clearing a drunk at the end of the journey. Very often, we have to off load them at the nearest police station for our man in blue to clear the mess. That seem to be the solution to all the problems we taxi drivers have

My first encounter with a drunkard customer happened on a Wednesday night at One Fullerton Building.
I was the last taxi in a long queue of about 10 cabs. A Caucasian man suddenly threw himself onto the back seat of my cab and instructed me to send him to Leedon Court off Holland Road.
As he looked sober, I did not suspect him to be a drunkard although the air in my cab smelt of liquor. Anyway, momentarily I considered myself lucky for not having to wait in a long queue for a customer.

I drove off  along Shenton Way towards AYE and within minutes, I was cruising along the expressway.
Along the journey, there was total silence in my cab except for the smoothing music of my radio.
Suddenly, I heard a few loud vomiting sounds, coupled with rough coughs at my back.
I turned around and saw the man throwing his disgusting filth onto the floor mat of my cab. His vomit was like a ready-mix concrete truck discharging it's cement.
An over powering smell of rotten garbage soon filled my taxi. I quickly winded down all the window and stopped my taxi at the shoulder of the expressway. I knew that stopping at the expressway was a traffic offence, entailing a fine of $150 and 6 demerit points, but I've no choice. I got down from my cab to open the back door for him to continue his vomiting to outside of the taxi.
I asked him whether he was alright. He did not answer me but leaned back to his seat. Soon he was motionless and asleep like a newborn child.

As this was my first experience with a drunken in my taxi, I didn't know what to do.
I lighted up a cigarette and think of my next course of action. At my wits end, I decided to send the bloke to his home quickly. After 10 minutes, we were at his condo.
"Sir, wake up. We are at your home". I said while shaking his heavy shoulder.
Out of the blue, he became alive and took out his wallet to pass me his credit card.
"Sorry for the trouble, mate. Key in any extra you like". he said with a heavy heave and slammed back to his seat. The meter read $20. I felt an extra $30 as a service charge for washing the vomit later at a petrol station was appropriate. Within minutes I got a receipt printed out.

I turned to pass the credit card and receipt to the man but found him still fast asleep.
I opened the door to the back seat and shake his shoulders violently.
"Wake Up, Man". I shouted at him.
He slowly regained his sense and gingerly got out the cab.
He couldn't walk properly and I held on to his shoulder to walk him to the lobby main door and settled him down on a sofa nearby.
I placed the receipt and credit card into his shirt pocket and bid him good-bye. He did not respond.

I quickly drove to my regular washing station and got the boys to clean up the filth.
I had to call it a day after the clean up as I was in no mood to continue driving.
What a day, I sighed.

A Big Tip

T.G.I.F.-"Thanks God Its Friday". It's the best day for cabbies in The Lion City of Singapore. Everybody wants to get out of their dwellings to soak in the city lights as the following day is a weekend. Cabs are hard to get on Friday evening and even the taxi booking lines are tough to get through. Most cabbies are out in force on the road to make the best earning of the week, except for some who still prefer to waste their time at the Kranj Race Course betting on horses.

Like the majority of cabbies, I started off punctually at 5pm and at my car park, I immediately picked up 3 Indian passengers who want to worship at the Indian temple in Commonwealth Road. The journey took about 20 minutes, longer than usual because of the Friday heavy traffic and the fare was $13.
After letting off the Indian family and driving a short distance down the road, a young trendy Malay lady boarded my cab and said that she wants to have fun at Clake Quay, the most popular night spot in town for locals and foreigner alike.

Immediately upon discharging her at Clake Quay, an Afro-American guy got into my cab and asked to be taken to Paragon Mall in Orchard Road. A long queue of people was already waiting at this taxi stand when the guy disembarked. Two Indonesia ladies quickly hopped into my cab and started to complain about the long wait they had endured. I ignored them and smiled to myself that they should know that's T.G.I.F and tonight is cabbies's night.
After the ladies paid their fare upon arriving at their condo at Harbour-Light, a booking came in immediately for a pick-up at Harbourfront Office Town 1, a mere 300 meters away .I took less than 2 minutes to pick up the booking passenger. She asked to be taken to Jurong Point. Although the outskirt destination was a disappointment to me, I was pleased that my collection from the last 4 jobs was close to $90. It was an excellent collection for 3 hours of driving.

My greatest surprise of the night was about to unfold shortly.

Like Paragon Mall, the taxi stand at Jurong Point was crowed with people, some were carrying bags of merchandizes, others were holding on to trollies of stuffs. Most people taking taxi from here were residents of neighboring HDB estates with too many grocery bags to go home by bus. Therefore, some calculative cabbies avoid this taxi stand for trivial reasons like having to waste time helping passengers load & unload their goods and ending with small taking because of short distance.
Proud to say, I'm not like them but usually hope for the best whenever I stop at this taxi stand. With God grace, a caucasian male in his early thirties, I reckoned, boarded my taxi. He had just a haversack, which he dumped onto the back seat upon opening the door. A Chinese couple with tons of grocery bags had left earlier in a taxi ahead of mine. I was spared a "disappointment" from the couple.
The "Ang Mor" was dressed in casual light-green polo shirt and grey bermudas, like someone who had just returned from hiking a forest. He looks nothing close to an office executive, more like a hitch-hiker trotting the globe.  "Mandarin Hotel at Orchard, please". he said softly with an American accent. I couldn't believe my ears because that destination in the city would means that the fare would be more than $20 and I would also be assured of another quick pick-up with $3 CBD surcharge.
He did not spoke a word while I cruised along the highway towards the city. He must be tired, I thought to myself and left him alone. I usually like to chat with foreigners whom I find are more interesting, friendly and more likely to shower the cabby with tips. But not this guy I told myself as he looks like he needs it (tip) more than me.
But I was in for a more pleasant surprise later. The meter showed a fare of $22 when we reached the hotel. He asked for a receipt and I got him a printed one instantly. He then took out his wallet and searched for his money. He was taking a longer than a normal person paying a fare. Finally, he fished out a $100 note and handed it to me, apologizing that he had no smaller bills.
"Sir, I don't have change for this big bill", I said.
I was reluctant to give him the change for the $100 bill, as I would end up with only a single $100 bill and no smaller notes for future transactions. He then requested to pay by credit card but I politely explained to him that since a receipt had been printed, the system cannot allow other mode of payment.
"Ok, just give me $20 and keep the rest as my tip to you. It was a pleasant trip, anyway". he said.
"Wow, thank you very much, Sir. You just made my day" I exclaimed with joy while shaking his hand and kissing it.
It was a $58 tip. I've not received such a big tip for a long time.
Now, many of you will sneer at me when I say I don't like to be paid more than the metered fare, especially when the passenger is drunk. With a drunk, I feel it's taking advantage of him. However, I gratefully accept tips when my passenger is sober and appreciates my good service.
                                   
                                                It's Friday Night

A Bad Week

I had not earn any money this week mainly because of my disrupted sleep, resulting in me spending little time on the roads. I hope with the up coming Friday I could recoup my lost in earning. Usually, on Friday evening, the crowds are everywhere. It's quite easy to pick passengers on Friday not other days. I usually made about 20 to 25 trips on Friday and earns about $100 after deducting rental and fuel. By nature and partly because of my age, I'm quite a lazy chap. I frequently take it easy the following day after a previous day of good earning.

Generally speaking, what I earned as a cabby is spent on household expenses, which can come to about $1,500 per month. The extra that I've is spent on buying the 4D. Poor man like me has only one hope. That is to strike the first prize in a 4D. When and where can a cabby hope to have $40k instantly?. If I'm not wrong, most cabby has no saving. They collect cash in their work and it's naturally difficult to save when you have cash in your pocket. You tend to spend it. The wise guy will rebuke you for not having the discipline to budget your income. It's easily said than done. That is why, I always advocate that young man should not drive taxi. They will have no saving when they reached 55. Whereas a young chap who works in a factory with CPF contribution will be able to see some money when they hit 55.

In Singapore, when a chap is retrenched at 45, it's very difficult for him to find a suitable office job, unless he is academically highly qualified with years of useful experience. Even that, the prospective employer will offer  lesser pay. The reason is, we have millions of foreign workers who are eagerly waiting at the employer's door to take up your offer if you reject it. Take the case of Dr. Cai Mengjie. He is probably the only taxi driver in this world with a PhD from Stanford and a proven track record of scientific accomplishments.  He was forced out of his research job at the height of his scientific career in "A-STAR*, as a principal researcher. Unable to find a suitable job, for reasons he described as something "uniquely Singapore", he drives a taxi to make a living and wrote  real life stories in his blog just to make the dull job a little more interesting.

Driving a cab is not too bad an occupation especially if you are retired and have no major financial commitments. You are your own boss and have the liberty to regulate your own working hours. With no manager to breath down your shoulders, you manage your income at your perils. In Singapore, we have about 100,000 licensed taxi drivers. Most of them are not active drivers but have a vocation license as a backup in case of becoming jobless. In time of economic downturn, there are usually more cabbies than passengers on the road.

Taxi Fare Cheats

 
Two days ago, "The Straits Times" carried a report on taxi fare cheats.  Comfort, which has about 15,600 taxi reported an average of 166 fare cheats a month, while the other 7 taxi operators reported a total average of about 100 a month. Many cases are not reported as cabbies find it a hassle to report such passengers - especially if the fare is not a large sum or their chance of recovering the money is zero.

Fare cheats dodge payment in various ways. Some simply dash out upon reaching their destination, others claim they need to go home or to an ATM to get money but do not return. Others say they will transfer the money to the driver's bank account which often turns out to be empty promise. Then they are those who leave their bags as collateral that turns out to be empty. Most cabbies do not have the passengers particulars and therefore do not have any recourse, except to bite their nails and take it as a learning experience in job hazard management. I know of a case where the 60+ years old driver chased after the fare cheat and died of a heart attack as a result of running.

Fortunately for me, I had only one encounters with taxi fare cheats in my 4 years of driving experience. It  happened after about 1 month into my driving job. I picked up 2 young punks at Clark Quay after mid-night and drove them to Kenmangan MRT in Eunos. As soon as I stopped my taxi, they dashed out of the door and disappeared into the night. I knew I had lost the $15 fare and puffed a cigarette to ease my pain. On the other hand , there were  passengers who were genuinely unable to pay the fare either because their cards were faulty or short of cash. I encountered two such passengers, who remitted the money to my account within a short time after their departure. Below (in white background) is Yahoo Singapore's recent report on 1/11/2011 of taxi cheats:

Fare cheats, assaults and robberies – these are the common problems that plague cabbies on our roads these days.

In particular, figures from taxi operators show an uptrend in the number of fare cheat cases in recent years.

ComfortDelGro, the largest operator in Singapore with a fleet of 15,600 taxis, said its cabbies have reported an average of 166 fare cheats a month this year, compared with 134 a month in 2008.

In the first half of this year, there have already been about 1,000 cases, said its corporate communications officer Tammy Tan.

Nine assault cases against its taxi drivers were also reported during the same period, added Tan.

Just last Saturday, taxi driver Tan Peng Mong, 57, fractured his arm when he went after a pair of alleged fare cheats who refused to pay a S$20 fare, reported The New Paper. The male passenger had allegedly pushed the cabby down in a struggle that resulted in the latter’s fall.

ComfortDelGro has been in touch with the injured driver and will help him with his medical claims.

The figures are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg, however, as many cabbies do not report cases to the authorities.

Said Syed Hisham, 60, a cabby of 20 years, “I try not to fight because I don’t want to get hurt… so I continue driving to make up for the lost earnings.”

Syed was cheated five times last year.

Other taxi drivers said they often have to write off their losses as it is hard to identify the fare-dodging passengers.

As a gesture of goodwill, ComfortDelGro said it tries to reimburse cabbies in full for the loss in fares.

The latest figures have also prompted Member of Parliament for Joo Chiat Charles Chong to call for better protection of taxi drivers by insuring them against fare losses.

However, Chong also highlighted that companies “need to advise their drivers not to chase after these fare dodgers and risk lives and limbs in the process.”

In conclusion, it's very difficult for cabbies to avoid fair cheats and even more difficult to catch every one of them.. Ultimately, it comes down to the passenger's integrity.