LTA is So Unforgiving and Punishing

raihanraihan SG

So it was possible to it drove its engineer to suicide. A post from youngPAP shows how hard hearted LTS is:

I was caught for drink driving more than 3 years ago and was charged in court, was fined a few thousands dollars and disqualified from driving for 2 years.
It was a stupid and a very expensive mistake.
I was retrenched after my boss found out and lost a $6000 pm job.
Naturally, I was depressed and feeling very down and worst, my dad was hospitalized. I wouldnt let him know about my predicament. Not long after my dad passed away and I still couldnt find a job.
My bills were piling up; especially the property which I committed at the peak was already down by 40 percent after the 9 September WTC disaster. I couldnt sell my house as the return itself was not sufficient to repay the whole principal sum.
Outstanding loans were rescheduled over and over again, incurring more costs and headache.
Luckily, I have a very good wife who supported by going to work at an age, most women would have retired.
The main problem in getting a job was my age, most employers considered old when you are over 50.
After my 2-year suspension was up and I have to go through the entire driving test a newbie would and managed to pass it first time. All those basic and final theory and the practical test took more than a year including waiting time.
In March 2003 I was issued a qualified driving license and I decided to apply for a taxi license.
I went to LTA but was told I have to wait for a year before I can be considered for approval because the minimum driving experience is one year on the road.
I told them I had been driving for more than 28 years but was told the past history was irrelevant as the date of my passing was in March 2003 and am classified as a new driver.
In April this year, 2004 I went to a job road show and apply for a post of a taxi driver again.
What puzzled me most was I have to pay $30.50 to LTA for processing my application and it took one month.
I think LTA deserved a place in the Guinness world of records for charging an administration fee for a job application.
My heart was jolted when I received a letter stating I was not qualified due to my past records.
This is a clear double standard, one year ago I was told my past driving history was irrelevant and now my past history becomes an issue.
If only they had make known to me that applicant with drink drive record will not be accepted, I would not have applied and save that $30.
The period between my suspension and the re-test took about three and a half years and I have lost two parents. My mum just passed away after witnessing the agony I was going through.
I am still without a job and am very desperate.
I am merely trying to get a job most suitable for my age and am prepared to earn less than 30% of my last drawn pay.
I have never even touch a drop of alcohol ever since I was convicted and is there really no 2nd chance in Singapore even for an honest mistake.

Why is LTA so unforgiving and punishing?
Havent I been punished enough?
What should I do to be reinstated as a normal Singapore citizen again?

octega SG

Some how I dun know, after reading this guy's account, I don't pity him at all. He knew the law, drink driving is an offence but he did it anyway bloody knew the consequences that came with it.

Chinese saying: "Zhao Zhi Jin Ri, He Bi Dang Chu"

And why must die die drive taxi? Singapore no jobs liao than must drive taxi ah?

the Bear SG

drink and then drive?

fricken deserve it!

better you than the poor sod you may run down...

like the ad in australia says: if you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot...

tspg SG

Be grateful that you :

1 did not cause any accidents when you drink and drive.

2 were not ban for life

3 not jailed for the offence

There are other jobs around that dun require a driving licence. Think of your family they need you buck up and find another job.

Qitai SG

Typical people who make bad decisions and then blame the whole world for it.

Bad decision (1) - Drink and Drive
Bad decision (2) - buying propety at the age of 50??!!
Bad judgement (3) - Never save and consider that he may be retrech
Bad decision (4) - die die must be taxi driver, got more than 3 year never consider other options.
Bad decision (5) - predicament is cause by drink drive and of all the job he choose, he wants to be a Taxi driver!!! Oei..... can be more responsible or not?

oldbreadstinks SG

as hard hearted and inefficient as LTA seems , they’ve just made me feel safer by banning this idiot off the road as a taxi driver

Augustin SG

agreed.

and so many other jobs.. why taxi?? Rolling Eyes

ShutterBug SG

Being humans, we aren't perfect and we have tendencies to err in life. Unlike some in here, who responded to your plight like they're perfect beings from another planet; I would say that it was WRONG for you to have consumed alcohol and drive, but, the system in SIngapore should be more forgiving and give people chances to turn over a new leaf or learn from the punishment - not bannish people forever in life. This only bring up a people with no or little compassion towards one another.

People how have fallen in life and recovered, will understand compassion. Those who have yet to fall, will only sound obnoxious.

I'd suggest you post your story in some other forum if you want more insightful replies apart from these young childish comments.

eutjin SG

everyone deserves a 2nd chance …

Qitai SG

You think you are showing compassion? Wait till your love ones gets knock down by a drink driver and only to realize later that the same driver has commited the same offense before and the LTA lets him become a taxi driver despite that. What will be your thoughts then.

Yes, he deserve to have a second chance, but not as a taxi driver. There are many other jobs out there. No one is cornering him. There is nothing wrong with the rule that irresponsible driver should never be given a taxi-driver license. There are too many irresponsible taxi-drivers out there already.

octega SG

I think most of the posts here does not mean not giving this guy a 2nd chance.

I think the concern is put a taxi lic into this guy hands, can you really guarantee that he will not drink drive again? Who is there to monitor him when he is on the road with other road users?

If you are the taxi company or LTA, are you going to take that risk?

raihanraihan SG

ShutterBug, I tend to agree with you that the forummers here are rather immatured but blessed.

My intention of forwarding the posting is not to get insightful replies but to warn the juveniles to be careful for one misstep only and life won't be the same. I understand that a misdemeanour in SAF could cause one to lose a place in the varsity and a 8-yaer-old who messed up his exams is condemned to the life of an ITE technician. Singapore is a cruel place.

the Bear SG

2nd chance?

damn.. do you even THINK?

you're bloody mature enough to KNOW that you are responsible for your own actions... one of the most insanely STUPID things to do is to drink and drive...

worse still, your chosen vocation is to drive people around... people who pay you to bring them safely from point to point...

what you have done, is because of your own actions...

fricken take some personal responsibility for your own actions!!

don't blame society for putting that alcohol down your own throat... you did that all by yourself.. no one put a gun to your head or a knife on your throat and made you drink that alcohol...

then, after you drank that alcohol, either you were too drunk to know that you are over the limit and should not have driven, or you are fricken irresponsible and decided that to endanger the lives of others is less a problem than to take a day off...

either way, you erred... badly...

pay the price for it and stop bellyaching that the world is against you...

no one did anything to you except yourself...

live with it..

be mature enough to take it on the chin and rebuild your life...

if not, you're exactly what you call others.. immature... and worse, you're an immature and irresponsible old man...

wake the hell up!!!

Heartlander SG

LTA ’s staff is definately practising double standard. One day I parked my old car at one dead end of Thomson Ridge when I was there for a jog in Mactriche jungle track. I got a summon ticket of $70 for illegal parking because there is a water hydrant nearby. Since then I parked my car elsewhere but I have observed since then that there is a brand new Mercedes parking in the same spot almost everyday and even overnight because the owner(maybe a VIP) of the Mercedes is staying bearby and it looks like he owns that spot!I just do not believe that such jungle law still exist in Thomson Ridge!

oldbreadstinks SG

if he wants to drive so much, he can apply to be a delivery man, that he can crash as many times as he wants and hopefully kill himself in the process, if its not his fault , i would say that its wrong for him not to be allowed to be a taxi driver,but he in his 40-50s , an age when he should have known better, actually got himself into trouble and think that the system owns it to him, if you're talking about a teenager, that i can accept ,BUT for FU*K'S SAKE! HE'S A FARKING 40-50+ YEAR OLD!!!!!

and right now you're saying that we're imature for stating the obvious?
should i join in and say something like "get a life" to you?
if someone thinks he can test the system then be prepared to face the music!

ShutterBug SG

Oh I'm sorry I must have annoyed some almighty literates in here.

In this case, lets recommend that the death sentence be applied on all crimes and offences, so that society shall be free of dangerous individuals who will commit the same offence/s again after conviction.

Yes, lets condemn every wrong doer. Lets make our society 100% crime free and totally SAFE for all who are DECENT folks. Spare no one whatever the crime or offence. Cull em all.....

This should be the way, perhaps?

chunyong SG

1) Drink driving is a grave mistake, thank god you were not jailed.
2) Your boss fired u not becos that you cannot drive, more likely is he rejudge your character when he know u drink-n-drive
3) You can always find other job, you aren't imprisoned, so there is no criminal record, u could settle for other lower paying jobs to tide over 1st

laws must be strict here, we are a small country, we can't afford drunken drivers all over on the road or high-profile crime to take place now and then. u could have taken a taxi home then, asked someone who did not drink to drive u home in ur car, spend the night in ur car and drive home the next morning, ask ur friend to drive u home, so many options for u and u chose to drive...

3 words to sum it up....ni tiao de (u chose it)

tspg SG

ok uncle got your message. I WILL NOT DRINK AND DRIVE.

Anyway you are blessed too. You got a good wife by your side what more can a man ask for in life. Cheer up don't be so negative.

gangsterkillar SG

Oh no no no.......... that's not enough! Maybe we should jihad them. maybe we should hv Osama as our new leader to instill their warped logic on all of us. make sense? Twisted Evil

drawer SG

I think if the LTA forbid him to be a taxi-driver,they should return him the $30.And also,the LTA should disclose their rules n regulation on what kind of applicants will definitely not accepted so that those ppl wont be wasting their time to apply for the job.They should be more transparent on it.But then again,some ppl here got their point,i mean if u cant apply for a taxi-driver,u can always apply for other jobs.Because taxi-driver dont earn as much as 10 or 20 years ago.If let say u apply for the job n was rejected 10 years ago,i can feel ur frustration.But now the golden period for taxi-driver is over already,now with this kind of economic,many jobs pay have been reduce significantly.So taxi-driver job also not as good as u think now,some even grumble they drive whole day only can cover up the expenses n the fees.