Industry observers estimate 5 to 10 per cent of taxi drivers are
habitual gamblers.Checks at carparks of the two integrated resorts
reveal a sizeable number of parked cabs – often during peak demand
hours for them. On horse-racing days – Fridays and weekends –
carparks at satellite betting centres are also filled with
taxis.There are 10 such centres here, and the most popular one is
in Bukit Merah.
A recent check revealed more than 50 parked cabs there between
6pm and 7pm on a Friday.Said Neo Nam Heng, chairman of the Prime
group of companies, including Prime Taxi: “This is the worst
problem of taxi drivers.
And there’s no rule to stop them.”Prime Taxi general manager
Eric Ang said: “Gamblers do not only miss rental payments, (but)
they are not meeting service requirements too.”Their mentality is
strange – instead of making money during the peak period, they’d
rather gamble.
Some of them will say: ‘If I win, I will win more than the
rental.’ “Premier Taxi managing director Lim Chong Boo said: “It is
not a new problem, and it has worried us a lot all this
while.”Trans-Cab general manager Jasmine Tan said gambling is one
of the top causes of drivers missing rental payments, “but so are
drinking and womanising”.”We try to help them by giving them a
repayment scheme.
But if they don’t follow it, we terminate (their services).”A
ComfortDelGro spokesman said gambling is not a major problem, but
that it is keeping a close watch on the situation.
The phenomenon is no comfort to commuters, who complain that it
is often hard to find a cab even though Singapore has the highest
taxi population per head among developed cities.
There are 5.2 cabs per 1,000 residents here, compared with 3.3
in London, 2.6 in Hong Kong and 1.5 in New York.The situation is
such that commuters are now choosing parallel taxi services on apps
such as Uber and GrabTaxi – even when the cost of a ride is often
much higher than that of a conventional cab.Human resource
consultant Alex Yew, 43, once saw close to 100 cabs in a carpark
where a Singapore Turf Club betting centre is located.
He said: “That was just one carpark – there are three carparks
in the vicinity. If you multiply that by the number of betting
centres around the island, it is a significant number of cabs.”So I
can understand why people feel that’s it’s difficult to get a taxi
during peak hours.”
The Straits Times talked to a couple of cabbies at the Resorts
World Sentosa carpark earlier this month on the condition of
anonymity.
Said one of them, a 40-something SilverCab driver: “It’s my
first time here. I’ve been to Las Vegas, Macau and Perth, but I’ve
not been here.”Asked why he was visiting a casino when it was peak
period for fares, he replied confidently: “I’m only driving
part-time. I work in a logistics firm, I work 15 days, I get 15
days off.”So I thought I’d drive a cab when I’m off. When I’m not
driving, I’m with my family. We’ve a three-year-old, so I can’t
come here when I’m with them.”
Another cabby, with leading operator Comfort, denied that he was
there to gamble.”I am here to meet friends for dinner,” the
50-something said as he was getting back into his taxi in the
VIP section of the carpark just before 6pm.”I
was in the area, so I thought I’d call them to meet up for
dinner”
