"Pulled A Fast One"

About 6.30pm yesterday, a decent looking Chinese lady in her thirties boarded my cab at Market Street taxi stand. "Hello Miss, where would you like to go?" I asked. She said "Hello, bring me to China Square at Cross Street", "China Square? Okay" I replied. I started on my way and in a short while, I reached China Square and drove up to the lobby. "Here we are Miss" I said. She looked around, not feeling sure if it was the place and said, "This place don't look like the one I went to the last time, the place here is not familiar, I want to go to the one at Cross Street". I tried to tell her that this is China Square again and again but she looked a bit 'blur' and said, "I want to go to Cross street". I did not want to waste time as well as 'argue' with her and so I made a U-turn and drove up to the junction of Lau Pa Sat, slowed down and pointed to her the sign showing Cross Street at its starting point. She nodded and I drove slowly towards China Square on the right side of the road and there you are, we can see the big sign near the top of the building showing 'China Square. I said "We were here just now"  and went into the lobby once more. She said "Hold on, let me make a call" "Okay" I replied. She finished talking with her friend on her handphone and still kept saying 'This is not the place I want to go". I said "Miss, where you really want me to go, you have to be more specific". From my remark, she displayed anger and exclaimed "You are showing temper and impatience, you bring me to the taxi stand at Cross Street now". These requests were not getting us anywhere and so I told her, "Miss, I think you may alight her, you don't have to pay me this fare of $7.80 and maybe catch another cab from here". She just opened the door and quietly walked straight into the building. I thought this lady might have pulled a fast one on me, a 'Cheapskate' act, but still a fast one as I drove away feeling a bit stupid. Oh well, it happens to the best of us and continued with my work.

Orchard Road 'Light Up' Again?

Wow, another 'Light Up' exercise at Orchard Road last night? Luckily it was put out before the fire can spread, otherwise we would be seeing only burnt tree trunks as Christmas decorations and 'natural lights' provided by the heavens above us come Christmas Day.
This is the first time as far as I can recall that an incident such as this unusual second 'lighting up' has happened. In fact, I had just driven past Takashimaya about 10 minutes earlier otherwise I would have seen the fiery lights and maybe even snap a few pictures with my mobile camera.
Throughout last night I kept thinking about the bright star in the sky which heralded the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day. What if, I mused, what if the christmas tree fire were to happen on this coming Christmas Day in Singapore? Yes, it would definitely be declared by all Christians as a 'Divine' happening and a 'Reminder' of the day Jesus Christ was born, a 'sign' of  the 'fire' representing a bright 'Star' on earth instead of in the sky and right here on Orchard Road. Woh, what sensational news broadcasts it would have made around the world, just then, my passenger, an Indian gentleman called out "Hello, hello, I said Street 21 in Pasir Ris and not here in Tampines" I quickly replied "Oh, oh, so sorry, so sorry, I must have been dreaming" and immediately changed course. 

An 'Invincible' Passenger.

There is always a first time as I led this 'passenger' not going to be on board my cab at all, but driving in his own vehicle, following closely behind me as I guided him to Kranji Camp along Chua Chu Kang Way.
You see, I was flagged by this 'passenger' after the traffic lights at the junction of Bukit Gombak Military Camp along upp. Bukit Timah Road around 9.30pm last night. He was standing behind his parked car when he flagged me. He walked up to me on my driver's side as soon as I pulled up and asked if I could show him the way to Kranji Military Camp. He offered to pay me for my services and immediately handed me a $10 bill to mean that he was being genuine and needed me to guide him to the Camp. I straightaway took out my Directory to show him the map but he just waved and said "No, no, I am not good at directions, I just need you to lead me to Kranji Military Camp please".
Well, I thought, its still providing a service and agreed. Before he returned to his own vehicle, he told me to try not to go too fast. I said "Okay" and drove at a moderate pace, looking through my rear mirror most of the time to make sure that he is 'tailing' me all the way. When we arrived at the Camp, the metered fare showed $7.60 but I only charged him $7.00. He thanked me for my patience and help as he collected back his change of $3.00. I said "You are still my 'passenger' just the same and thank you".
This trip was a first of its kind for me and I thought it funny having a 'passenger' who is not even on board my cab as I continued cruising around.

Disinfection !

Its a beautiful Sunday, and I feel well and so refreshed after an enforced rest. I must admit however, that I did drive about two hours yesterday evening just to loosen up a bit and I felt good.
Well, last night, whilst having coffee with my son Terence, at the Food Court near where he lives, something we often do when both of us are free and easy. We would meet up, usually chat about everything, my work, his work, about his business and we always enjoy sharing jokes and laughter a lot. This time, during our usual chit-chats, he suggested to me, why not let my blog followers view his very comprehensive website, which is true, very interesting and informative, about what he does and how he can be of service and provide help to many of my followers' families and friends who may not be aware of, and may even need his services and expertise badly. I thought and why not, its free advertisement for his business and at the same time, its going to be free coffee and meals for me in return, hahaha, good deal.
Therefore, my loyal Followers and Viewers, its my humble pleasure to invite all of you to check it out and view Terence's Website at : http://www.evdisinfection.com/
Whatever you may need to know is self-explanatory and Terence welcome all enquiries, will advise and attend to your needs personally.  

Bad Cough.

An irritating and consistent cough still persisting since Friday has made it difficult for me to work. My Doctor has advised me to rest for a couple of days so as not to aggravate my throat condition, am taking his medication as prescribed. Tried posting yesterday but coughing badly keeps putting me off. Have to rest more to contain the cough and maybe by tomorrow should feel much better. Tried to drive around and did ferry two commuters last night but had to stop due to the continuous coughing bout.

Massive Jams.

Yesterday was a dull and very quiet workday for me. I was caught in many traffic jams which was quite unusual as they happened along most of the expressways that I was in. Long rows of vehicles, bumper to bumper, looks as though the country's vehicles were all spread out on the roads. It was raining earlier and also during peak hours did not help any. I managed to chalk up about 155 kilometres, short of near my normal hundred. Anyway, I could still cover my rental and diesel and made a little pocket money. Hopefully conditions today will improve for the better.
When it rains, I mean pour during the peak hours between 5pm to 8pm, thats when folks just finish work and rushing home, with very heavy traffic flow, roads get all clogged up which ultimately leads to long jams. In addition, with these sort of weather conditions, many accidents occur, including vehicle breakdowns and also, not forgetting about impatience and tempers joining in, thus causing huge massive jams eventually.   

We Know.

In order to be like a Mr. Knowall, taxi drivers need to engage in conversations with their passengers who come mostly from all walks of life. We learn many things from our local passengers, but, firstly about best and popular food stalls in their neighbourhood, their area's present property prices, any new roads or short-cuts they may know best, and information to places of interests still unknown to us. Likewise, we are also being asked generally, similar questions by our passengers, so you see, we share and learn about everything from each other all the time. We also learn from our foreign passengers as well, about their countries, people and their lifestyles or anything else we like to know, at the same time we become their best and instant tourist guides. Hence, in some ways we are alike, we learn and exchange knowledge everytime we meet.

Common Dialogue?

The common questions that would-be passengers always ask before they board my cab goes like this, "Uncle, do you take nets?", "Do you accept Cards?", "Do you have $50 change?", "Uncle, can go 3 places?", and the questions asked as soon as they board, "Can lower air-con, very cold?", "Can wind down window, not feeling well?", "Can go faster, I am late already?". These questions are most likely answered by a "Yes" or an "Ok" or "No problem" from me.
Then there is the "Navigator" who will direct me the route he wants to go, road after road, sitting upright, in the middle and just beside my shoulders, (I will usually remind him to put on the seat belts).
Here comes the "Commander" type, and he goes like this, "Go straight", "Turn right", "Turn left", "Keep left" or "Take a right", "Make a U-turn" and suddenly "Stop!". These directions sometimes require my "Staccato" questions like "Right?", "Left?", "Straight?", "Here?", "Where?" and "Ok?".
Finally, "Best", I get the relaxed and easy going type, "Can", "Anywhere also can", "Whichever way also can", "Up to you" and "Good".
Don't you think these phrases "Catchy"? Goes on and on everyday, have to accept and then, "Like". 

Call for Help.

Made an appointment with a friend this evening to listen and discuss about his family's problem which he is facing. He needs a listening ear and thinks I can be of help maybe even advise him of what he should do to help solve some urgent problems. I have decided to take a break again today but will continue to write tomorrow.

Like a Fairyland.

This year's Orchard Road Christmas lightings looks refreshing with the blue and white lights blending very well. Every year I compare the colour schemes and I think this year looks best. With major renovations to buildings and newly completed ones completed along with nicely widened pedestrian walkways, Orchard Road continues to look a picture, very neat during the day and like a sparkling jewel at night. I enjoy driving along the stretch irregardless of being caught in a jam because the whole place looks so alive, vibrant and beautiful. I feel proud each time I hear good comments, envious praises and exclamations from tourists and foreigners at the Orchard road sight whilst travelling in my cab. 

Its Party Time.

At about a quarter to midnight, I picked up 3 caucasian passengers at Holland Village taxi stand and they wanted to go to Jervois Road. As soon as all were on board, the guy who sat in the front passenger seat with his two pretty and charming lady companions who sat in the back seat, continuously chatting and laughing aloud at the same time when I, being inquisitive, not bashful and not minding my own business, suddenly butted in and enquired which country they were from, as the language they spoke in, sounded unique to me, and the guy smilingly turn to me and replied "Where do you think we are from, have a guess", and I said "Maybe from Switzerland?" and he immediately said "Oh no, I don't like Swiss people! We are from Holland", and the three of them laughed heartily together. From then on, my cab was filled with loud laughter from the four of us as we continuously joked and teased each other throughout the whole journey. I told them that I am a 'nocturnal' creature as I don't sleep at night but only during the day, saying "My eyes become very sharp and clear and I become very wide awake when it is midnight, you know what I mean?" and this Dutchman comicly feign fear and spoke in a frightened voice "Oh oh, no way, I'm not telling you where I live" and all of us screamed and laughed so very loudly. We really had great fun and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly till we finally reach their destination. We were waving and wishing each other goodnight and still laughing as we parted. This was indeed a pleasurable last trip for me as I head for home. Wow, what a happy and fantastic Dutch Trio they turn out to be. How I wish all my last trips end this way all the time.

Amorous Charades.

Fetching male and female foreign workers to their favourite haunts all over Singapore has been a common activity for me throughout my taxi-ing career. Here we have a typical scenario of a male foreign Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi worker, who would hail my cab, directs me to a private residence, park about 30 metres away from a particular house and wait for about 5 minutes or so, while he makes his phone calls to announce his arrival and then from out of nowhere his girlfriend, usually a Phillipina would appear and straightaway board my cab. In this sort of charade, they will often end up at a cheap hotel immediately after, small hotels such as Hotel 81 and Fragrance Hotels located along Balestier Road are usually preferred. Very often, whilst in the cab I can't help but listen to their cheeky and naughty chit-chats, normally in broken English, gigglings and at times noisily grabbing or groping each other.
Who can blame nor criticise their amorous behaviour when these individuals mostly with their spouses living faraway at home overseas, try to overcome their loneliness and need for sex and companionship. These relationships can and have resulted in stabbings and killings when jealousies, passions go hay-wire.

Arrogant and Unreasonable Attitude.

I had not driven much but in one of my trips, ferrying a middleaged female Chinese National, I had a hard time trying to tell her I had not enough small change for her hundred dollar bill she gave to me for the metered fare of $6.50. She could not accept the fact, felt agitated and was very unreasonable speaking in a heavily accented Mandarin tone and in a harsh manner that it was none of her business why I had insufficient change and that I should be more prepared. I asked her nicely if it was alright to proceed to the petrol station down the road at the junction of River Valley Road and Jervois Road to make a small purchase in order to acquire some small change, but she simply refused, saying she was already late, was not her fault at all and starting to raise her voice. I was feeling tired and not in the mood to prolong further this absurd confrontation and so I told her to just pay me whatever loose change she had on her and I will forego the rest. She mumbled, dug into her purse, took out a $2 bill and 35 cents coins, handed them to me and immediately alighted. I drove off quickly, thinking it was just not my day today and decided to head home to get some rest.  

A Very Slight 'Knock'.

Horror of horrors, the slightest knock bumper to bumper with no visible sign of any damage at all to both vehicles, yet I am being penalised and made to pay $1,600/- being amount of the insurance 'excess' clause. This is a great loss I have to bear, and also a very bad start and dissapointing day for me.
In August, along Bras Basah Road just alongside Chijmes, there was a traffic jam with vehicles all clogged up, moving at snail's pace, my right leg slipped a little from the accelerator pedal forcing my cab to lurch forward slightly and lightly bumped into the rear bumper of the vehicle in from of mine. The driver of the front vehicle and I both alighted to see if there was any damage to our vehicles. There were none, and I apologised for the incident and we were both on our way again. I thought that was the end of it all, I even gave my mobile number for contact should there be any discussion needed out of goodwill. True enough, the next day, the driver called me and said his vehicle suffered a slight shift of his bumper. I offered to make good any problems there is but through negotiations, we agreed to make individual insurance reports and my company then continued with offer to repair whatever damages there is at the company's workshop. I felt relieved that everything was in order and left it at that, thinking its all over till I received bill compelling me to pay the excess amount. Shocked and dismayed that this became such a big issue out of only a slight knock on the bumper I have to thrash it out with my taxi company in the next few days.

Unruly Behaviour.

I was very busy yesterday ferrying passengers continuously over long distances. It was later in the night around 11.30pm when I picked up an 'unruly' fortyish looking guy along River Valley Road and he wanted to go to Geylang Lorong 16. He hopped in the front passenger seat, roughly pulled the seat to slide more to the rear and sat in a reclining position. As I started to drive, I noticed that he had not put on his safety belt and when I requested him to strap up, he simply refused and said in Hokkien "Never mind, don't be scared". I told him it is compulsory to do so and again he refused saying, "Just drive and if I get caught, I will pay the fine". The way he spoke and behaved, clearly indicated an unreasonable 'hooliganistic' attitude. I sensed that he must have been drinking and feeling a bit 'high' from his smelling of liquor. Not wanting to pursue an argument which may turn ugly, I decided to ignore and leave him alone. I drove a bit faster to quickly reach his destination and was lucky enough to avoid being stopped by traffic cops along the route. Reaching the corner coffeshop at Lorong 16, he alighted after paying the exact fare and walked off unsteadily.
He gave me a bit of 'hard time' but then it is not uncommon to face unreasonable and nasty commuters in this service profession. As far as I am concerned, I must honestly say that nearly all commuters that I have fetched in my taxi driving years have so far been polite and courteous.

Favourite Working Days.

How time passes us by so very quickly, its Saturday once again. Fridays and Saturdays are taxi drivers favourite working days, this is when we are kept very busy with passengers waiting for us everywhere, especially at taxi stands of Shopping Malls, Night Clubs and all places of interests. These are days when we come out in full force and none would wish to take 'off' at all. Takings for these days normally exceed by at least a third compared with other days of the week.
Sometimes, we get carried away, we tend to forget and just skip our meals and coffee breaks until later in the day when hunger beckons, thats when we stop work. It is during this break that we start to feel bodily aches here and there. Taxi drivers who have worked continually for more than 20 years suffer gastric pains and backaches, the most common ailments. Overall, I think being a taxi driver is still the best retirement job. We continue to remain actively involved in daily happenings, keeping our minds alert and active till we reach the age limit of seventy three when we have to finally retire.

Filial Piety ! Huh, whats that ?

Recent articles of parents on the receiving end is sick and utterly disgusting. 'Young teenage girl slaps her mother twice and feeling proud about it, even to the extent of broadcasting and boasting to the whole world'. What has become or gone wrong with our TNG (The Next Generation)? Wait a minute, here comes another one, 'man chases father and mother out of his home, reprimands them for not helping in household chores, only eat and sleep'. My goodness, this is disgusting!
The Government's regular talks and calls for more care and aid towards helping the elderly together with reminders on lessons of filial piety has come to nought. Parents poor upbringing to be blamed, excessive sacrifices and giving in all the time also to be blamed and last but not least, bringing them into this world in the first place have themselves totally to be blamed. This is truly a sad day for one and all. Happinesss, Joy, Hope and Pride may no longer be forthcoming for parents except a sense of helplessness as they may slowly await punishments and regrets one day when they grow old and in their twilight years with senility and dementia closing in.
At the end of it all remember, there still exists a word called 'Retribution' lest they forget.

Pleasant Encounters.

A few days ago, I ferried a lovely, friendly and cheerful German lady from Holland Village taxi stand to Boon Lay Avenue. She had just done a bit of shopping and was going home. She told me that she has been living here for the past 4 years and is very happy living in her HDB flat, mixing and mingling with the locals, learning our way of life, because that is the only opportunity she gets to experience and to know what its truly like being Singaporean, and she loves it. She told me that her best friends are in fact Singaporeans and not any from her 'Ang Moh' community. We had a very pleasant journey, chit-chatting and laughing all the way.
Then last night for the first time, I had the pleasure of fetching an Armenian (my first ever) citizen from IMM taxi stand and he wanted to return to his NTU (Nanyang Technological University) campus.You see, he is a Physic's Lecturer based in NTU for the past 2 years. I was indeed very surprised to learn from him that there are at present only 15 Armenians living in Singapore and all of them know each other very well. Their families would always meet together weekly at the Armenian Church near Hill Street every weekend and, laughing a bit, he blushingly told me that he presently sits on the Advisory Board even for such a small community. He went on to tell me some very interesting historical facts (too long to elaborate) about their early inhabitants and existence in Singapore.
Being a taxi driver, I get to observe, learn and receive first hand information from Tourists from all over the world, Expatriates of different nationalities, their behaviours, criticisms, praises, thoughts and views about Singapore and Singaporeans. And finally, I am happy to conclude that the majority or almost all foreign visitors and expatriates that I have personally been in contact with have expressed and shown love and great admiration for our country with many also declaring their intentions and desire to live here permanently.

'Cheats' here and there.

Reverse actions involving taxi drivers from a neighbouring country, in this case, Vietnam. In Singapore, we often read about fare cheats but in Hanoi, we read about taxi cheats (over-charging). Recently, a couple from Singapore, attending the 80th Interpol General Assembly held in Hanoi were made to pay $360 for a 10km ride which would normally cost only $10 and not only that, they also left an iphone4 in the cab which has yet to be recovered. Earlier this year, a Malaysian woman reporter was made to pay $240 for a ride to the airport which would have cost only $9. The cab she took was found to be an unlicenced one (a 'pirate' cab) which had similar markings belonging to a big taxi firm. She was made to walk to the Airport when she refused to pay $500 demanded by the driver. There is an increase of taxi driver cheats (a criminal offence) in Hanoi and the Transport Authorities are still investigating cases involving the drivers and also the taxi companies.
In Singapore, overcharging is a serious offence and the taxi licence can be revoked.

An "Act of God".

Heavy rainfalls, flooding, stalled vehicles and people wading in flood waters waist high near where I lived during my teenage years were a common disastrous sight. My family lived in the corner double-storey terrace house, ten in a row, along Thomson Road, directly opposite Mount Pleasant Road and the Singapore Polo Club. These row of terrace houses have since been demolished. Everytime when there is continuous heavy rainfall throughout the whole day, the whole area gets flooded and looked like a big swimming pool. Imagine flood waters reaching knee high inside our house and as a youngster, it was always a big thrill and fun time, playing in the flood waters, waiting for chances to earn a few dollars when we help push stalled vehicles along Thomson Road was the most exciting pastime. Many young people would swim near the small bridge, at the T-junction of Mt. Pleasant Road/Thomson Road, jumping off into the swollen swift flowing river, devoid of any sense of danger whatsoever. The roads were impassable to all vehicles and were hardly visible at all to a certain extent.
Magnify the scenario and picture the vast devastation of flooding presently happening in Thailand as I read the newspapers and watched the television news coverage each day of the continuous and un-ending rising flood waters, causing heavy destruction including several hundred deaths already, I can only visualise a little bit, in a small way with what it was like to be in such situations although my experiences were only a tiny fraction compared to the tragic magnitude of sufferings affecting Thai people today, whose lives are being traumatised with properties lost, destroyed and death toll rising. When will the water 'Nightmare' in Thailand go away?

On The Losing End.

Driving along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) towards Woodlands or from Woodlands towards town has always been very tricky and dangerous especially with many motorcyclists travelling alongside of your vehicle. The majority of the motorcyclists are mostly Malaysian workers coming to work here or going home everyday. They often speed, ride recklessly, weaving in and out between vehicles in a hurry to go to work or return home. There were times when we nearly collide and the m/cyclists would show their arrogance and 3rd fingers or even race beside you and then suddenly cut across your path to vent their anger. What they don't realise is that if my vehicle were to come into the slightest contact with their bikes, they would be flung off their bikes, crash and be seriously injured or killed. If this happens, I would also be faced with a lot of inconveniences, loss of time and income as in having to spend time making accident reports and sending vehicle to workshop for repairs etc. Of course these possible collisions will occur anywhere with m/cyclists endangering their lives or that of their pillion riders when they continue to think that they are immune to getting hurt when they collide with motor vehicles. Motorcyclists have to be made aware that they are the ones, with only their helmets on their heads as protection will always end up getting badly injured and may even lose their lives but not that of the driver of the motor vehicle, should they collide.

Reservoir's Calling!

Premonition!  thats it, after sending a lady passenger to Bedok Reservoir View just after midnight (early Saturday morning), I decided to stop at the first bus stop pass the junction of Bedok Ave. 3 to have a breather and anyway my last job before turning in. Got down from my cab, crossed the road towards the reservoir's edge, lighted up and thought this was indeed a beautiful sight. Its serenity, water, water everywhere, beautiful scenery, tranquil and so very peaceful and calm. Just then, I remembered and recalled about the drownings and deaths that happened hereabouts, the most recent, a female, only a couple of weeks ago. Is this a silent and inviting 'graveyard' or what? Why are people coming here to end their lives? These deathly thoughts raced through my mind and I thought more deaths may occur in future because this place might be an 'in' thing or location for those who have lost 'it". Never did I imagine that another tragedy or death would happen so fast as I read the news online just now. Shocking! This is going to be the reservoir's 6th victim, and also at a time when the Inter-Religious Organization, Community leaders and some residents are gathered on the floating platform at the reservoir this morning to bless it. Its scary to think of the co-incidence and the happening so immediate (the Reservoir is alive?). I don't think I will stop by the banks of this 'reservoir' for any 'breather' in future anymore for that matter.

Ugly and Shameful Behaviour.

Last night, two 73 year old senior citizens, very ill-tempered and with foul mouths, frustrated, angry, agitated and panting as they boarded my cab outside Lavender Food Centre, along Jalan Besar Road at about 8.45pm. They wanted to go to Hougang Avenue 4, and as soon as they seated themselves, loud and filthy Hokkien vulgarities started spewing out from the both of them non-stop and together at the same time. They began by swearing and cursing a number of taxi drivers (about 7 taxis) who did not stop for them when they were flagged even though their taxis had shown that they were vacant. They said they had to walk all the way from Bendemeer MRT station to where we met and it was already more than half an hour ago and yet no taxis will stop for them. They claimed that taxi drivers must be very rich people, earning at least five thousand dollars monthly, thats why they don't bother to stop and pick them up. They said they would have reached home if they had taken the MRT and when I asked why they had not done so, they immediately remarked that there were so many taxis around and they wanted to go home quickly, its not as if they don't have the money to pay for the taxi fare. This loud vulgar swearings and cursings went on and on, to the extent of even wishing taxi drivers be robbed and beaten up and maybe killed if possible because they deserved it, until they revealed that they were ex-taxi drivers themselves which shocked and stunned me momentarily. I understood straightaway that these two ex-cabbies cannot accept being 'The Commuters' now and facing 'unwilling' vacant cabs and its their turn to start waiting and catching errant cabs like what they were and must have been doing in the past themselves. I chose to remain quiet the rest of the journey, not to engage them in any rebuttals or arguments but to quickly despatch them to their destination. I just want to forget this ugly and uncalled for episode from the behaviour of these two shameful senior citizens cum ex taxi drivers with their despicable attitudes. 

Generosity and Thoughtfulness.

Pleasant surprises for me yesterday from two of my passengers. The first was when this middleaged woman whom I picked up at People's Park taxi stand at about 7.30pm last night, she insisted that I must accept a soy-bean drink (in plastic bag) as she had just bought two bags, one was actually intended for her young son when he returns from his grandparents home, but then he will not, 'cause he chose to stay another day. I was reluctant to accept at first, but she was adamant and kept insisting till I finally relented.
The second surprise came during my last intended trip for the day as it was already midnight, when these two young Indian men boarded my cab near Railway Mall. They wanted to go to two places, first Bukit Batok Central and then to Yew Tee. Along the way, one of them requested and asked if I could just stop at MacDonalds for 5 minutes, he was feeling very hungry and needed to buy something home to eat as his wife was already asleep, he did not wish to disturb her. Since this was to be my last trip, I said okay. Less than 5 minutes later, he was back with 3 packs of quarter-pounder hamburgers, one for his friend and the other for me. Wah, I was surprised, at first I refused but he and his friend kept saying "Uncle, you too must be hungry lah, c'mon lah, take, take". They were both very persistent, kind and thoughtful, I gratefully accepted. When we reached their destinaton at Yew Tee, the metered fare was showing $13.00 and they straightaway gave me $15.00 and told me to keep the change as well. Wow, what a pair of great guys they turn out to be, so generous too. This was to be yet another unforgettable workday for me as I thanked them wholeheartedly and wished them goodnight. 

Bring On "The Rotan".

A young drunk and violent passenger assaults 62 year old cabby, punched and then kicked his head twice when he fell down on January 29 this year, was jailed for 4 weeks and ordered to pay only $100 as compensation is, I think a very mild and timid punishment, don't you agree? This young coward, who not only cheats, but even beats up a senior citizen who provided him with transportion and did no wrong, except ask for payment of the metered fare, should not be allowed to get away so easily. This increasing trend of assaults and fare cheating, many complaints, reports and even more unreported ones, have got to end.
Member of Parliament  for Joo Chiat, Mr. Charles Chong, said taxi drivers can be protected against fare cheats by insuring them against fare losses, but is this the issue? I would propose implementing a more severe form of punishment to be meted out for violence and assault by abusive fare cheats and others against service providers, such as, by handing out a mandatory 3 months jail term and a minimum of' 3 strokes of the 'rotan' (cane), similar to 'Road Rage', including a fine, would be sufficient enough to deter and reduce such 'bullying' acts drastically. The compensation for fare losses is usually negligible as against possible injuries sustained.