Taxi Singalong

"Hello Uncle, can you bring me to Yishun Street 81, thank you," 
"Hello, of course, my pleasure!" 
"Wah, Uncle, I love this song, what radio channel is this?" 
"Channel 90.5 golden oldies, Brian Richmond is the D.J. and I always listen in on this channel" I replied. This pretty young lady started singing softly in accompaniment. 
"Can you turn the radio up a bit?" 
"Sure, I see, you love to sing and you have a good voice." 
"Thank you, in fact I just left that Karaoke with my girlfriends, we really enjoy singing the oldies and I wanted to continue but too late already, got to work tomorrow.....Do you like to sing too?" 
"Oh yes, I love singing very much, but nowadays only sing at home through those karaoke songs from Youtube, haha" 
Just then, this song popped up - "Danny Boy", a duet sung by Cliff Richard and Helmut Lotti, and I joined in, but when the chorus was halfway through, we arrived at her apartment. 
"That was very good, you sing very well!" 
"No lah, you are just being kind."
 That was quite refreshing as I drove off and continued singing along. Brings back memories of the time when my father and me were singing in our church choir, incidentally, we were both tenors, and now trying to reach the higher notes puts a little strain on my voice, so I sang a little louder and I could still do it. 
So you see, sometimes the passengers get you involved and you become revitalised and ultimately you imagine you are a singing sensation and carried on singing very loudly with the radio turned up whilst cruising along the CTE towards town with the trees lining along the highway, your silent audience. After that, I just felt good throughout my shift. 
Remember, you've got the right to be happy.........

Feelings of despair

I have ferried many different foreign nationals all over Singapore, and each time I have not failed to ask of those who are helpless working here and having their families suffering at home, and not being able to be with their loved ones in their plights, and wanting to know if their families are safe, as you read and learn of great tragedies, famine and sicknesses happening everywhere around us. 
The recent earthquakes in Sumatra, tsunami in Samoa, typhoons, great floods in India and Philippines where whole villages are wiped out, buried alive and so many thousands in cruel and unsuspecting deaths, and much more. 
We in Singapore are indeed blessed and everyone of us should spare a thought for those who are less fortunate than us. I have heard of fear and desperation and anguish from many of my passengers and even hear them sob and cry. I don't feel good and have wished many a time that if I were there I could help out a bit, and there are so many helpless 'ifs'. 
I remembered a time long, long ago, when there was this big fire at Bukit Ho Swee and I was there and did carry this frail old lady left alone outside her burning attap hut to safety and also guided many away from harm. At that time I was also a member of my secondary school's Red Cross unit. In my primary school days, I had always wanted to lead and was a Sixer in the Boys Cub and then a Patrol Leader in the school's 91st Boys Scout troop. Therefore fetching passengers who are unfortunate to have families involved in accidents or down with all kinds of sicknesses, feelings of despair and helplessness or in deaths, makes me feel for them and I know and understand their predicament. 
Driving a taxi can also get you involved with helping out some passengers in need of immediate assistance. I love this job because I get to meet with all kinds of different personalities, characters, learning and hearing of different lifestyles, of all sorts of problems, and me being able to help out in some ways such as by giving a bit of advice here and there or to counsel those who need it. Never deny hope to anyone, it might be all they have.....

Why so quiet lately...

Hardly any heavy traffic movements lately along Geylang Road. 
"Hello" 
"Uncle, go Tanjong Pagar" 
"Ok."
"Bro, how come so quiet nowadays in this area. Aiyah, everyday anti-vice raid, at least 2, 3 times a day where got girls anymore. All disappear suddenly. You taxi drivers know what, no girls sure no people" 
"You are going to Tanjong Pagar but there also very quiet what" 
Had to speak like him and they become more relaxed and at ease. 
"Same lah, there also quiet, but I not go to look for girls. There, worst, like ghost town. I going to collect money for my boss"  
Oh, this guy must be a Loanshark worker as soon as I heard him start talking to a debtor on his mobile the rest of the way. Very soon we got to where he wanted to alight. He just paid his fare and walked off......... 
"Good evening, could you please send me to Traders Hotel please." 
"Good evening to you too. Yes, sure, going back to your hotel so early? Its only 10 o'clock" "Yeah, I was here 6 months ago and I befriended this beautiful Philippina and I told her I'll be back very soon but the Pub where we met has closed down and up along Duxton Hill is so very quiet, where have they moved to?" 
"Mister, I don't think they have moved anywhere, they just close shop due to continuous anti-vice raids everyday, and business just came to a standstill as all the girls dared not make any appearances for fear of being nabbed. They must have left the country to go elsewhere nearby. So, without girls around, guys too disappeared."
"I am flying home day after tomorrow, say, is there any interesting joints here where I can have a drink with ladies around?" 
"Of course, I'll bring you to Orchard Towers, a very popular place of interest and there you will find many young ladies to keep you company." 
"Sounds good! That'll be fine, thanks." He paid the fare plus a little extra for me.
"Thank you, Cheers, and enjoy yourself, take care, goodnight."

Works both ways

Most of my passengers will pay what is shown on the meter or we tell them how much, and usually they pay the fare or round it up leaving a small tip. This works both ways, for instance, if the meter shows $3.90, chances are the passengers will give you $4.00 and tell you to keep the change. On the other hand, if the meter shows $4.10, I will often say just give me $4.00 will do. Once I had a middle aged woman passenger, a school teacher, I heard, and the meter showed $9.95 she gave me a $10.00 note which I took and was expecting her to alight but she just sat there. I started groping through my coin box but could not find any 5 cts so instead, I gave her a 10 cts coin which she took, said thank you and got out of my cab. 
And then there was this guy I fetched from Lucky Plaza to Geylang East Ave 1, the metered fare was $10.20, he gave me 2 pieces of $10.00 notes. I asked if he had 20cts or not, he said "No, sorry, I don't have any coins at all" "Its ok then" and return him 1 pc of $10.00 note and thanked him. He just kept quiet and without a word left my cab. 
Another time I had this young lady passenger whose fare showed $8.80 and she started to grope through her handbag, "Could you switch on the lights?" I did so and she started counting 10cts, 20cts 50cts and 4 pieces of one-dollar coins and finally came up with $8.60. 
"Uncle, only got this much, ok lah, hoh?." 
I said, "But you have a $10.00 note in your hand which I can change??" 
She said, "never mind lah". 
Well what to do? and she said thanks and got out of my cab. This everyday situations are not uncommon and so, sometimes, we just have to give and take.........say "Please" and "Thank You" more frequently.

Looking Back...

I first started driving  for TIBS in 1997, and the Taxi company located in Ang Moh Kio had container boxes fully airconditioned as a temporary office where we had to go and pay our taxi rentals every 2 days in cash. We were given 2 white long sleeve shirts and 2 grey long pants a year, every year. 
From then on everyday I had to wear white long sleeve shirts and the grey pants and it is as though we were wearing school uniforms. We looked smart in it and whenever we took a break for lunch or dinner, nobody can tell if we were taxi drivers or office workers. I drove for this company till it was taken over by SMRT. I started driving for SMRT since its inception till April this year when I switched to Premier Taxis - Silvercab. 
It does not really matter which Taxi company you join so long as you pay your rentals promptly. Every Taxi company offers incentives for various schemes and you sign up for a particular one you choose. You pay higher rentals for new Taxis and different rental schemes for older makes. Most of my taxi friends each drive for different Taxi companies and we often exchange and compare views about our company's different operational styles, advantages and disadvantages, bonuses, incentives, diesel prices, time taken to service our vehicles every month and other highlights. 
Every taxi driver has his own group of friends and we meet up everyday at different locations all over the island to get together and have coffee or dinner , chit chats but more so to rest our weary legs. We share our daily adventures, news, family, commitments, problems and assist each other where there is any need. All of us look forward to our get togethers everyday at a certain time and certain place and we contact one another through our mobiles should there be any change of time or venue. We are always helping each other in finding locations and directions whilst plying the roads for passengers....

Stop dreaming, just do it.

Driving a taxi everyday, I get to meet up with all kinds of passengers. For instance, late last night, about 11pm, this passenger of mine, age maybe in his mid twenties boarded my cab from Jurong West St. 81 and he wanted to go to Pasir Ris Drive 6, I mean that is a long trip and also just before midnight. Along the way, we started chit chatting, about this and that and in general. I asked him what he was doing at present and he told me that he had just started working for his friend helping him to sell used laptops. He said it has been 3 months already and he was heading nowhere, as his income was based on commissions, and sales was hard to come by with him not having much experience in door to door sales. He was indeed in great despair. 
"Uncle, I don't know what will become of me, I don't even know what my future will be" 
He studied at a local school till Sec 4 and had already done his NS* duties. I asked him what he would really like to be and he replied, 
"You know, I always dreamt of becoming a hairstylist" 
"That is interesting, have you tried applying for a job in that area?" 
"Still looking" 
"Young man, look here, stop dreaming, it will do you no good. If you really want to be a hairstylist, first of all go and take up a course in Hairstyling then after that go look for a job in that direction aggressively, in other words, look for a job as anything in any Hairstylist establishment and be persistent and accept whatever work assigned to you, be hardworking, humble, helpful to all and learn well whatever you are taught in all aspects of the trade. You will of course suffer in the beginning, but bear with it and at the end of the day, you will eventually succeed." 
"That's good advice and I think I will give it a go" 
"Good! don't just give it a go, do it straightaway." 
With that conversation and a lot of small talk like 'have you a girlfriend, do you socialise a lot, favourite hobbies and so on'... 
"Uncle, not yet lah, not much money how to go clubbing, only most of my free time play computer games." 
We finally arrived at his residence. His fare was 20 something dollars but I said "Just give me $20/- will do." 
"Sure ah! thank you Uncle, thank you." 
"Don't mention, you just take care and remember to look at life through the windscreen, not the rear view mirror, good night." 
After that drive and long chat I began looking for the nearest coffee shop............


*NS: National Service - compulsory for all male Singapore citizens

Selamat Hari Raya!

Wishing my Muslim passengers each time they take my cab will go on for a month and its so interesting seeing them in their colourful Baju Kurongs*.  When they go visiting their relatives and friends the whole family wears a particular colour, like all green, all blue or all yellow and so on.
"Hello Uncle, can take 5 people or not, one is very small and we want to go not so far away place, can?" 
"Where do you wish to go?" 
"Just to Bedok South Road, I tell you where." 
"Ok, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri" 
"Thank you so much" exclaimed one of the ladies, "you are so kind". 
And the whole family packed into my cab, merrily chatting and giggling away. 
"Abang, today how many places have you visited?" I asked. 
"Only two lah, because my family wasted too much time at home so came out late. Its ok, still got Saturday and Sunday" 
"Wow, you all look fantastic in your bright purple coloured dresses, very 'chantek'*" 
"Thank you, thank you, ok, ok, now can stop at the green signboard over there." 
The fare was only $4.40 and he gave me $5.00, and another Thank you. 
As I drove away, I noticed another Malay family all in orange-coloured apparel walking further down the road. Its just simply colourful........ 


*Baju Kurong: Malay traditional dress
*chantek: pretty

What's for dinner tonight?

Today was like any other workday with nothing very much to mention except for myself. I happen to fetch a passenger to Strathmore Road and so, I stopped by along Margaret Drive to eat at one of my favourite foodstalls, yes, the popular Char Kway Teow stall with a continuous long queue of customers patiently waiting for their turn to be served. The Char Kway Teow here is famous for its huge helping of cockles and nothing else. Anytime in the evening till 10pm everyday except Sundays there is this long queue and it never ends. You cannot miss it. Its stall is at one of Singapore's oldest food centre located alongside two churches. Sometimes it takes as long as half an hour's wait before your turn comes. It is self service with the cook working at his frying pan non stop. It costs $3/- per plate and you can request for more sweet soy sauce or more beansprout or additional eggs and less oil. I eat at this place at least once a week. 
There are many places where popular and famous food dishes can be found all over the island and I shall bring to your attention every now and then. Because of my night shift, I normally sleep at around 9.00am and wake up about 4.00pm everyday. My breakfast is usually only a cup of coffee, my 'lunch' at around 8.30pm and dinner about 2.00am. As I eat out all the time I therefore always try to seek out exciting and interesting places that offer exotic food. Incidentally, I am a 'must try' person who just simply loves to eat........

What shall I have for dinner tonight...? I usually let the passenger decide for me, so wherever I send them to, sometimes I'll ask them what food is good around the area... and if I don’t want to eat around there, I just wait for the next passenger to lead me...its like a surprise element each day.

Well, what do you know, there were no passengers taking up on my offer today, anyway, there is still 3 months more to go and who knows.

It's the 1st of Oct! Here's a clue...

Well, well, well, received some feedback in respect of my Promotional Fare offer, doubts as to whether I will honour what I said, deny who I really am or just for the sake of publicity.

Dear Commuters, I assure you once again that I will definitely honour my words, in fact I have planned to provide some clues to help you guys spot me and if you are lucky enough, I will be most happy to welcome you on board my cab, to everyone thank you. Happy Hunting.........

Well, CLUE #1 is that I drive a Toyota Crown Silvercab which you should look out for...

CLUE #2:

I have a Yellow New York Cab souvenir in my taxi that is placed below the meter as you see in the picture here below. I may stick it on the dashboard later to make it more prominent.

The picture is abit shaky, I'll try to take a better one.

Racegoer's dilemma

I drove towards Kranji Turf Club after dropping a passenger at Woodlands Ave 1. It was near 11pm and this guy at the Kranji Taxi stand boarded my cab. 
"Uncle, Bedok North Street 3" 
"Ok" and I headed straight towards BKE and then on to the PIE. Along the way, he told me that he is now definitely in big trouble as he had lost nearly all his month's salary at the races just now, which came up to nearly $1,000/- He mentioned a lot of IF he had played this or that race he would have made a lot of money instead, but alas listening to 'Hot Tips' from his friends also at the Club blew his money away when all the horses ran nowhere. 
I sympathised with him and added that he should have brought only money he can afford to lose and just enjoy watching the races and placing small bets. 
"Aiyah, I needed extra money so, with at least a bit of capital I can then venture for bigger stakes, mistake, mistake, now headache! got to give the wife at least $1,000/- to manage the household every month, with 3 children and all, now how man?" 
He had to cook up some lies to tell his wife and need to try to start borrowing money from friends tomorrow. He was a total wreck and could not sit still. I cannot assist him in other ways except to give him a bit of  consolation and some practical advice especially to try not to gamble in future but look after his family which is more important. 
"What is done cannot be undone, so what you got to do now is to tell the truth to your wife, plead for forgiveness and promise never to indulge in any sort of gambling activities from now on. Be sincere and truthful and maybe you will be given a second chance." 
Reached his destination, paid his fare, and thanked me for listening to his problems. 
"Don't worry too much and take care, good night." 
This kind of passengers in such situations are quite common in my line of work, so friends, if you're heading in the wrong direction, always remember you are allowed a U-turn......