Happy New Year - 2012

 Today is New Year Eve. A year is coming to an end soon. Without doubt, 2011 has been an eventful year, with toppled dictators, flailing economies and two exciting Singapore elections (G.E & P.E). I would like to use this opportunity to wish all my readers -"A Happy New Year" and also to give my take on this year happening relating to taxi business in Singapore.

Without doubt again, the greatest policy change that affect both the taxi commuters and drivers this year has been the recent taxi fare hike. The last fare revision was 4 years ago. Nobody like price increases in any aspect but in a capitalist economy, price increases is inevitable. With the fare hike, my income has gone up by about $20 per 12 hours shift or about $1.50 per hour. This small additional income helps me to defray the increased cost of fuel that I've been paying for the last 4 years. In 2007, I paid 85 cents for a litre of fuel, now I pay $1.22cents a litre, an increase of about 30 percent. I think the recent fare hike is fair from a taxi driver point of view. The sad side of the fare hike is that taxi ridership had gone down quite a bit. Before the fare hike, most taxi stands in the city were packed with taxi commuters. Now, its the reverse. Empty taxies with few takers lined the all taxi stands. I hope in the coming new year, taxi commuters will get used to the new fare structure and come back to take taxi again and soon. If not, I might have to look for another job. Maybe I'll become a security guard. In Singapore, this is the only kind of job available for old man like me. Sigh!

Generally speaking, there are many things I love about being a cabby -- primarily the people and the adventure, the unpredictability of each shift, and the endlessly fun game of discovering unusual places in Singapore -- places I would never visit on my own. And also, starring in envy and admiration at those beautiful bungalows in exclusive private estates after off-loading my passengers there. But there are also a few things I could never come to terms with as a taxi driver, like traffic and accidents and all the abuses and assaults that is so regularly heaped on Singapore's cabbies. We, taxi drivers are easy prey to robbers, drunkards and fare cheats. Also in the eyes of the public, taxi drivers are at the lowest step of the social status ladders, to be bossed around and treated with contempt. Taxi drivers in every countries face similar hardships and problems. It has always being this way since the invent of automobile and will not change any time soon. In Singapore, the only possible change I envisage is the natural replacement of the older sixties and seventies taxi uncles with younger and better educated drivers. Hopefully, this would improve taxi services in general and public perspective of taxi drivers in particular.

In 2011, I met a great varieties of people and had countless adventures. Most are nothing to write about. I also experience the happiest and saddest moments in the course of my work in the last 365 days. I think I should mention these two contrasting emotions here. First, I was extremely delighted when my letter to the press was published. In it, I highlighted the plights of taxi drivers and debunked the wrong impression that driving a cab is a lucrative job. It was my first and only letter I ever written to the press. It gave me great pleasure to be able to say something in a national paper on behalf of my fellow taxi comrades.

Now, the saddest moment happen just two days ago. It has nothing to do with grieving of death, heartache of broken relationship or nightmare of financial disaster. It could be considered a trivial matter.  It concerns the court case of the TV host and actress, Quan Yifeng. Most Singaporean know how she got into trouble with the law. For the benefit of my overseas readers, let me briefly say that she had an altercation with a taxi driver last year. She was charged in court not for a criminal offence but for mischief only. With her wealth, celebrity status, and an influential lawyer, who came out with a strong mitigation plea, she was acquitted and placed on probation. She got this lenient sentence because in Singapore we have two sets of laws - one for the rich and the other for the poor. A poor man is sentenced to 2 years in jail for stealing $2 to buy food, while Mdm Quan, who injured the taxi driver and damaged his taxi got only a probation. She used her wealth to "buy" herself out of trouble with the law. This is not fair and it makes me very sad that it happens in Singapore. Justice must not only be seem but done in open court.

The impression I got from reading the thousands of comments in Yahoo's forum on this case, is that justice in Singapore is perverted with double standard favouring the rich and powerful. The last thing I want in Singapore is a "kangaroo" court. The case of Quan Yifeng seem to points to that direction and is a clear travesty of justice. I've no confidence in the judiciary of Singapore and this is my saddest realisation in 2011.

When I listened to this video and watched the background scenery my soul grew weary and disappointed with humankind. We have failed to be good stewards of the world we were entrusted to look after. In our greed and selfishness we have polluted our earth that in another generation or two it may just become unlivable. It will be a powerful rendition of the traditional Auld Lang Syne that make you want to stay in the old year. Listen and enjoy.

An Old Friend

The Return of Condor Heroes.

Like the wink of an eye, a year is almost gone. A week more, it's Christmas. Another week more, it's New Year.

With a festive mood, a few thoughts flashed through my mind as I made this entry.

First, what have I done in the last 12 months that were meaningful and gratifying?. I could find only one - the start of this blog in mid-July. Frankly, I've no clear idea how and why I started this blog. Maybe it was an inspiration I got from reading and following Dr. Cai's blog. He was a PhD taxi driver with an interesting blog. Link:  http://web.archive.org/web/20100104012750/http://taxidiary.blogspot.com/ . I'm not like him. He is a learned scientist with great writing and story telling skills. But on the other hand, like him, I blog to make a dull driving job a bit more bearable and also enjoy telling interesting stories.

Second, what resolutions do I've for the New Year?, I know resolutions are hard to keep. So, I've only one. That is, to keep this blog going till the end of next year with about 4 postings per month. I believe this is an achievable target and an optimum one. Let me explain. If I continue to churn out 10-15 postings a month, a time will come when I'll find myself repeating boring stories in this blog. That would surely bring an early demise of my blog because nobody likes to read boring stories. I, for one, love to read short stories that can captivate my interest till the last page. I hate boring tales. I'm sure everyone feel the same.

Now, this bring me to my last thought of the day. I was thinking of one of my childhood friend  - Mr. Koo Ah Kow.  A friend I lost contact fifty years ago but memories of our friendship are still vivid in my mind. Let me tell you a bit about Mr. Koo. He was a brilliant writer and story teller even at the tender age of 12. Mr. Koo came from family tree of Chinese literature greats. His grandfather was a scholar and a migistrate during the Ming Dynasty. His father was a Chinese philosopher with many books in his name and retired as a famous hermit in Penang Hill. Mr. Koo must have inherited his love of, and talent for story-telling and writing from them.

In the early sixties, Koo was my neighbor in a "gangster-infected" village at Bukit Panjang and we attended the same secondary school. He was in the Chinese stream, while I was in the English stream at Bukit Panjang Govt. High School. We became good friends, communicate in Mandarin and goes to school together on my bicycle. His family was not rich and his allowances came mainly from the many articles and short stories he wrote to the local newspapers and magazines. Koo also won many monetary prices from story telling competitions in schools and community centers. His stories were Chinese legends, dazzling romances, stories with moral lessons and bawdy tales. I love his stories of Gu Long's (古龙) and Jin Yong's  (金庸)wuxia (martial arts and chivalry) genre. His ‘glittering eyes’ would hypnotized me throughout his story-telling of The Legend of the Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳) and The Return of the Condor Heroes (神鵰俠侶).

I became his good friend partly because I love his stories telling, albeit told in Mandarin. In those days, there were no television and movies were unaffordable. To enjoy our wuxia genre, we combined our meager allowance to rent the full series of wuxia stories in paperback. He would read a paperback in a day and tell me the story the following day. He was a prolific reader and I an addicted audience. We were a perfect pair of wuxia stories lover. Till today, I could still remember the many story lines of wuxia genre.

Koo did not attend university but left school to become a reporter with Shin Ming Daily in 1967 and rose to become their editor. He was the first reporter in that newspaper and it was his only job in his whole life. We lost touch after we moved from our kampong houses to HDB flats some forty-five years ago. In my formative years, I was blessed to have him as my close friend, as his upright characters and moral values then had an everlasting impact on mine. My love for Chinese classics and proficiency in Mandarin were his gift to me. God bless you, Koo Ah Kow!   

My Letter to ST's Forum

Straits Time Page A35 - Forum

This morning, 15/12/2011, I was pleasantly surprised that my letter to the Straits Times's Forum was published. I wrote the letter with the sole intention of debunking their recent reports of an elite group of cabby's who turn their job into a real money spinner, taking home $3000 - $4000 per month.

I was annoyed when I read the news report that a cabby (Mr. Joseph Ho) is earning a lucrative income of $3000 - $4000 a month through his ingenious way of decorating his cab's interiors with seasonal figurines and giving his name card to passengers. I'm not envious of his methods. Every cabby could do what he does. But is what he does that effective?. He did a dis-service to other cabbies with what he told the reporter. The general public will get the wrong impression that driving a taxi is a lucrative job. If what he said in the news report are all "proven truth and sustainable", then all parents should sent their children to the "Taxi Academy" instead of the university. The return in investment in a taxi vocational license is faster than a degree.

I would like to take the pleasure of debunking every statement he made in the report with the privilege of my blog.

1. "I do up my car nicely and keep it clean and if customers like my service, they will get my name card"
Reply:  Mr. Ho, I don't know what "crap" you have before I enter your cab. I board your cab because you're first in the queue, or the first I hail, or the call centre sent to me, not because I like your "decorations". I'll probably throw your call card into the nearest dustbin at first opportunity. I could get a cab faster by hailing one on the road or a call centre than calling you from your name card. You could be miles away when I need you. You'll probably ask me to wait for you. By the way, your various figurines could become flying projectiles in case of an serious accident. I could be killed by your figurines instead of by the car.

2. "I receive plenty of hourly booking from regulars and overseas visitors and earns $4000 on a good month".
Reply : Wow! Mr. Ho, Your service must be majestic - fit for a king - and you're the only taxi driver in Singapore. All your regulars and overseas visitors will wait for you patiently even if you're busy. They will stick with you through thick and thin. Even our government is not sure whether they'll be in control five years down the road. Nothing is constant in this world.

3. I recommend attractions such as Singapore Flyer and Botanic Gardens to my visitors and they would engage me for the rest of their stay in Singapore.
Reply: Sigh!  Your customers must be blind or plain stupid because they can't read or see or know where to visit when in Singapore and needs you to recommend like a tourist guide. All the travel brochures at the airport and hotels must had gone missing. Modern days travelers are sophisticated and they spent wisely. Gone are the days where they let you burn their pockets. To save costs, they travel on their own or on package tour without personal tourist guide. In fact, a course teaching cabbies to be tourist guides has been discontinued because there is no demand for taxi tourist guides. Mr. Ho, please don't be lame. Your case of a elderly Australian man leaving a stack of notes that amount to $500 to you is history.

In conclusion, a hard working cabby who spent more time on the road, knowledgeable of demand pattern and locations, skillful in driving with least accidents or traffic offense and most importantly, pure luck, would earn more than the opposites. Having said that, don't be a taxi driver if you have other suitable job because you won't see any money when you hit 55 years old. You'll have no CPF. God Bless You if you join the rank.

Good And Bad Luck

Agatha Christie

Monday, 12/12/2011, was the start of the new revised taxi fare, with increases almost across the board. Taxi commuters were up in arms against the hefty increases. Some had gone to the extend of creating a Facebook page to boycott of taxis from Comfort and SMRT! Why are there such heartless people around? Don't they know that the one suffering from a boycott are the taxi drivers, not the taxi companies or government. ... SIGHT!!!.... SIGht!!......sight!.........

Monday night for me was a slow night, nothing was moving. The phone booking was quiet and the taxi stands everywhere were full of idle cabs. Some drivers cruise the streets downtown hoping to catch a fare, others give up and call it an early night, others resign themselves to the situation. They park on a stand and wait. To relieve the boredom, they pull out a newspaper or book, talk on the phone, get out and chat with the other drivers, eat, sleep... anything.

What the hell was going on? Everybody was out but hardly anybody was taking a cab. Is the revised fare hike so bad no one can afford taxis anymore? Has everybody spontaneously decided to lose weight and get in shape by walking everywhere? Or was it because of the school holiday where everybody is out stations? In reality, for those willing to pay more, they were not short of taxis and waiting time were down sharply.

It was a miserable night for most cabbies, no doubt. I've read through the paper twice, something I've never done, ever. But I'm not perturbed because I know that commuters need time to adjust to the new fares and will come back.

Perhaps sensing my conviction, a current booking came in around midnight to pick someone at Admore Park. The final destination was the airport. It was my first booking for the night and a good one. I was absolutely delighted and rushed to the pickup point within minutes.

As I rolled into the lobby, there was an elegant, middle-aged white lady standing on the sidewalk holding a couple of overstuffed suitcases. I loaded her stuffs into the trunk. She opened the door, pushed her stuff over, then heaved herself into the taxi. I punched the meter and off we went.

"And how are we doing this evening?" said the woman in a voice that could fill an auditorium. It was a curious change in protocol, as I usually do the greeting.

Fine, I say.

"Busy, tonight?"

Not really. In fact, it's been pretty slow.

"Well, maybe I'll change your luck for you," she said in cool, reassuring voice.

I'd appreciate that. Hope it goes both ways.

The woman was an over enthusiastic conversationalist and soon ventured into personal territory, asking my about my former jobs, family, friends, hobbies etc..etc... I don't usually reveal much of my personal life to anybody, much less a stranger. But she was different, especially her manner and sweet tone of her voice. While I usually do the asking, I found myself doing the talking. For the rest of the journey till the airport, I told the woman a bit about my growing up, my family, about how I lost my last job and became a taxi driver.......

At the airport, as she gathered her things, she told me, "You should stop driving a taxi and get to teaching as a private tutor. God bless you."

As I drove away, my head was swimming. Would I do as she told me? I didn't know. Still don't. But it certainly got me thinking. And, wouldn't you know it, my luck did change.

I booked more than $150 in fares. Not bad on any night.

A Stupid Man

After my meal, I was resting inside my cab at a car park, half asleep, when the rear door suddenly opened and someone threw himself onto the back seat. The noise made me nearly jump out of my skin.

"Uncle, Can go?" the man asked. He was near sixties, scrawny with half his hair gone and shabbily dressed in short and crumpled white shirt. He smelt of alcohol.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," I answered, grumbling to myself that I should lock the doors in the future. I mean, what if he was some crazed robber or something? I could have been be whacked over the head or stuck up, who knows? I mean....

"You okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I answer, composing myself. "You just startled me. Where to?"

He gives me the address. I punch the meter and we're off.

"Taken dinner?" I ask. 

"Yes, I was just having a couple drinks with friends after work. It's been a bad, bad day."

"Really, what happens?" 

"Recently, I did some very stupid things."

"What?" 

"I wanted to "kill" my wife with a kitchen knife?"

"Oh, No, That's serious" I answer. 

"This afternoon, I was charged in court and pleaded guilty to criminal intimidation and will know my sentence next month".

"Sorry to hear that. What made you do that?" 

"My wife and I had been quarreling over money matters daily and she looks down on me"

"Have you got a lawyer to defend and plead for you?" 

"Not yet, I've just been in shock. I don't even know what to do. No use now, I already pleaded guilty. Anyway, I've no money for a lawyer"

"When did you see your wife last?" 

"Two days ago. I asked her to forgive me but she refused and wanted to divorce me, now."

"On that day, did you hurt her with anything?"

"No, nothing. I thought it was just to scare her. I didn't even touch her"

"It's a terrible stupid mistake?"

"My wife was a divorcee with three boys when I first met her. Her youngest boy was only a few months old then. She keep pestering me to marry her. I agreed and brought up her children for twenty years. Now all the boys are grown up and they no longer needs me. I felt so stupid and regretted many things in my life. I'm only an odd job worker but I honor my obligations as a father and place food on the table everyday. Now, what do I get in the end. I made a mistake with a knife and she used it to send me to jail and divorce me."

"Sigh"

"Yeah, she dumps me because I'm poor, stupid and of no use to them now! Well, I'm sorry for what I've done. When I was around 40, I know I'm going to be old some day and wanted a normal family. Now, I'm near 60, I've to give up my dreams"

"And how long will you be in jail?"

"About six months to a year. After I come out, I'll be a different man. Luckily, I've siblings who sympathize with me and help me to get normal.?"

"Unbelievable. After what you've done for the family for twenty years, she don't forgive you for your moment of indiscretion. She wasn't hurt at all. I've heard of jerks getting away with beating up wife and children. Yours is just a conjugal strife but her action is despicable, almost psychotic. I think she's using this opportunity to dump you so that she can benefit from sale of your flat after divorce"

"She might be seeing another man, She's good at it?"

"It's probably lucky it happened sooner than later, because just think of it. If you're now in your seventies and she dump you, you'll be in bigger trouble. You deserve better. Lot's better."

"You think so?"

"Definitely. And you will. In the meantime, I'd start thinking of some medieval-style revenge on her."

"You know, she's not worth the time and effort. I think I'll just hang out with my friends."

"There you go."

"I feel better just venting about it. Thanks."

He handed me a ten to cover the $8 fare. I started to make change.

"No, keep it. Thanks."

"Thank you."

Taxi Fare Hike

"Uncle, come this Monday, your taxi fare will increase a lot"

"Ya, loh, we cabbies have no say. Our company decides on everything without checking with us.

"30% increase is unjustifiable. Higher flagdown, higher metered rate, higher advance call booking fee, extended peak hours, including Saturday & holidays, so on and so forth. So confusing with so many surcharges and increases! Why?

"Our company says it wants to help us defray our rising costs of fuel and living. And also match increase demand of cabs with supply".

"If they really want to help you, they should reduce your taxi rental in the first place. Increasing fare will reduce ridership".

"Ya loh. Give them 6 months. They will increase my rental instead of reducing it. They will say that they are facing similar problem of rising costs like us. Like our government, they do unpleasant things slowly in stages.

"If your company is grappling with increase costs, it should detail how these costs increases cannot be matched by greater efficiency, productivity and innovation - rather than resort automatically to the price mechanism"

"These are very high sounding academic thinking. Do you think our company will bother to do it. They think only of getting all their taxis on the road to collect rental. They don't care whether there is over supply of taxi or not. Or whether there will be a reduced in ridership! At the end of the day, much of the fare increases will go to the pockets of my company, not me!

"Why have we reached to this stage of affairs?. Singapore has more taxis per person than most - if not all - developed cities. We have 5,000 cabs to every million people, versus 2,500 in Hong Kong, 1,500 in New York. Yet, commuters always complain of difficulties in getting a cab when they want it. In H.K. they could get a cab within 5 minutes anytime of the day. Why?

"True. While Singapore has one of the highest taxi-to-population ratios in the world, fares are among the cheapest and car prices among the stiffest. Demand at peak hours are always more than supply and cabbies often cherry pick during this period. This happens because fares are under-priced. Almost every person can afford to take taxis. A little increase in fare would remove those fringe taxi commuters and reduce demand. I think the current price revision is more palatable solution, though not elegant.

"Presently, it's very confusing with so many surcharges, especially for tourist. Why not dismantle all the clunky surcharges and simply raise the flag down and metered fare, like in Hong Kong?

"Well, using a simple fare structure alone won't solve the problem of an excess demand for cabs. When demand is more than supply, price would increase. Similarly, if supply is more than demand, price will drop. So it's a question of price."

"Why don't your company treble or quadruple fares to make cab a luxury like in New York or Tokyo?

"Oh, no. Such a brutal increase would come with an unbearable social and political costs. And it would immediately price out half a million cab commuters and make me jobless.

In conclusion, there is no easy way to fix cab conundrum. The system of surcharges is confusing and remains a second best alternative. I feel the impending revised cab fares are fairer and simpler. If you feel otherwise, you're most welcome to give your opinion and comments in this blog. No offense will be taken, I promise.

You may like to read comments from my favorite blogger at 
http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2011/12/taxi-fare-hikes-and-what-is-wrong-with.html

An Heart Attack.

After a night of driving, I arrived at my usual coffee shop in Jurong Central around 4am. All the familiar buddies were already there, having their rest and preparing to head home soon. Roy, my best friend, was having his beer and talking to one of the drivers in a serious tone.
“Did you hear? Ah Kow, died yesterday. He just drove last night and now he’s dead.” I heard Roy said,
"How did he die?, I asked.
“I don’t know; he was having trouble breathing though, a heart attack, maybe” Roy answered.
"He used to give me a ride home, poor chap". Roy was saying.

I knew Ah Kow for about five years. He was a short, stocky Hokkien man, with a bouncy way of walking. Most of us like him as he was friendly and a generous guy. He was about mid-fifties, without much education and had two school going children and a housewife.

Most likely he didn’t have health insurance and probably couldn’t afford to stop driving to rest. It was a sad moment, watching several of the buddies reflecting on a fallen comrade. At the same time, reflecting on how that could be them someday—driving day after day, week after week, year after year as this tough job takes its toll, with no safety net of any kind-----engaging in a struggle-----that is the life of a Singapore cabbie.

Uniquely, this is the only job that you had to pay for not working. With no annual leave, no medical leave, no CPF, no pensions, no holidays, no nothing...but with a rental to pay everyday, we must keep driving every single day. Sitting and driving 12 hours at a stretch everyday, takes its toll on the health of most drivers. Hypertension, heart and kidney diseases, diabetes, you name it, they have it. 

For me, I know I’m lucky because I don't push myself too hard. I've CPF Life, a kind of life insurance policy. From it, I get a couple of hundreds every month till I die. I’ve been lucky in so many ways, and how much I’ve taken for granted in my life up to now.

Suddenly, Roy, who was seated beside me, mumbled into my ears.

"James, I think I'm having a heart attack. I'm loosing my vision and can't breath properly" 
Oh, Shit! I touched his forehead and arms. They were covered in cold sweat. His lips were turning white but I couldn't see a change in his face colour as he was a black local Indian. I've never witness an heart attack incident before this but I know what are heart attack symptoms.
"Feel any chest pain and numb in your arms?, I asked Roy.
"Yes". he answered with closed eyes and shivering lips.
"Call 995, right away", a buddy shouted.
"OK". I wiped out my cell phone. "Mdm, I need an ambulance urgently at...........I think my friend had a sudden heart attack. It's an emergency. Please hurry. Thanks."

Meanwhile, someone applied medicated oil over Roy's forehead and got him to sip some lukewarm water. Roy had a history of heart problems. He had stem in his heart arteries and is on medication. He drives everyday, never exercise and is over weight. He smokes a pack a day, drinks 3 bottles of "Henniken" beer every night  and eats fatty Indian mutton every evening for dinner. He is a good candidate for a fatal heart attack. If he dies, he had only himself to blame, nothing else.

The ambulance came within 15 minutes. The ambulance professionals got to work right away, taking blood sample to check for diabetes, ECG, pulse rate, etc...etc. I took a photo of their work. Surprisingly, they found Roy stable and asked whether he wants to be admitted into hospital for a thorough checkup. Every buddy suggested he should and he agreed. Again, they found him stable at the hospital and he was out driving on the road after a day stay there. Roy had a lucky escape. If he refused to change his horrible life style, I've to start preparing an early "white-envelop" for his impending funeral wake. Touch Wood!!!!!! Roy, you heard what I just said?