THREE men in crisp white shirts and black trousers lingered near
the Clarke Quay taxi stand.
They had their eye on foreigners who were standing about, looking
uncertainly at the snaking queue that had formed.
Then one of the trio approached a Caucasian in a business suit.
'Taxi, sir? I can help you call one. No need to wait.'
His price: $20.50 to Kovan, a ride which would cost about $9. Deal
done, he whipped out his walkie-talkie to page for a cab. When no
one responded after two minutes, he turned to the Caucasian and
said: 'Sir, price too low. No one pick up. You up price to
$30.50?'
Bargain struck, he paged for a cab again and a Comfort
Mercedes-Benz cab arrived in five minutes. This was 9.30pm on
Tuesday, a scene that The Sunday Times found was being repeated at
tourist spots such as Boat Quay, HarbourFront, Orchard Towers and
Jurong BirdPark at different times of the day.
At each site, at least five foreigners were lured into the touting
trap by Mercedes-Benz cabbies and their humbler cousins during the
11/2 hours The Sunday Times team was there.
Besides the tout system, which was most blatant at Clarke Quay, the
other ruse is for cabbies to sit in their taxis with the 'on call'
sign switched on. They decline to pick up passengers but change
their minds when a distinctly foreign-looking person asks for a
ride.
Haggling starts.
A flat fee of $30 to $50 is negotiated. Some cabbies add
'surcharges' such as 'area' taxes. The meter, as far as these
cabbies are concerned, does not exist.
The chief culprits are Mercedes-Benz limousine drivers, who 'trick
foreigners into thinking they have to pay more for their ride
because it's a nicer car', as Comfort cabby Michael Tan, 57, put
it.
But their smaller counterparts - the Hyundais and Toyotas - are
also getting in on the act.
The taxi touting problem is riding on the crest of Singapore's
tourist numbers, which hit a record 952,280 in July this
year.
Of the 50 foreigners The Sunday Times spoke to, almost all said
they had been ripped off at least once by cabbies who refused to
charge by the meter.
Two were driven to write to The Straits Times Forum Page in the
past two weeks.
When New Zealander Kevin Pledger, 49, tried getting a cab at South
Bank Road's taxi stand last week, 10 Mercedes cabbies approached
him, but none would charge by the meter.
'To go to Dover, they wanted to charge me $25 or $10 plus the meter
fee,' said the technical manager who has been working in Singapore
for 17 years.
'That's insane. It wouldn't be more than $10 if we go by
meter.'
Mr Pledger, who goes to Batam regularly on business, told The
Sunday Times that he has also been harassed by touting cabbies at
the HarbourFront taxi stand. They pounce on foreigners coming out
of the ferry terminal, refusing to pick up passengers in the taxi
line.
'My expat friends and I all think that the problem has got worse in
these two years,' he said.
While expatriates are more savvy about the taxi system, tourists
are led up the garden path.
Argentinian doctor Milagros Rodriguez, 28, who was in Singapore
with three friends for a holiday, did not know Singapore cabs
charge by the meter.
'I thought touting cabbies is the normal practice here, just like
in Thailand,' said Ms Rodriguez who was spotted at Boat Quay. She
was quoted a flat rate of $15 for a ride to the nearby Raffles
Hotel, almost three times the usual rate.
Australian Ken Howard, 32, who has been in Singapore for two
months, has given up flagging down cabs along the road.
He gladly pays the $4 booking fee when he needs a cab.
'Why waste your time bargaining with the drivers when I can call
for a cab and still pay less?' said the IT manager.
While foreigners are being taken for a ride, the locals are upset
that they are not even getting one.
Mr David Segar, a project officer who had been waiting more than 20
minutes for a cab at Boat Quay on Wednesday night, said: 'It's so
frustrating when empty cabs refuse to pick up locals, but only stop
for tourists who pay ridiculous prices.'
Source: SPH Asiaone.com
