Here's the English translation:
A few days ago,
friends from the media received a report that the Caucasian man who
beat up a taxi driver will be charged in court. This incident had
earlier been reported in September 2014. The Caucasian man was
unhappy that the taxi driver refused to pick him and resorted to
violence. He used his arm to strangle
the taxi driver and as a result, the taxi driver was seriously
injured.
I had originally
intended to attend the court hearing regarding this
case. However, upon checking the court
records, I learnt that another two Caucasian men would be charged
the same day; all relating to violence against taxi
drivers.
Every day, thousands
of taxis ply the roads in Singapore. Time and again, reporters
would come across news of taxi accidents, taxi drivers being beaten
up and fare cheats. Perhaps, it is because my father is a taxi
driver that whenever there is news regarding taxi drivers, they
appear closer to life.
Dad has been driving
taxis for 25 years. It is fortunate
that Dad is on the day shift as I feel that driving the night shift
has greater risks. All these years, nothing serious happened to
him. We only hear of him complaining of
incidents such as rude passengers, unreasonable passengers and fare
cheats etc.
Taxi drivers are
unable to determine what kind of passengers that they will pick.
That, I feel, is the difficult part of their job. Customers come in all kinds of shades and
colours. If the drivers are lucky, they
meet a good customer and nothing will happen. If they are unlucky and meet a bad customer, they
could be bullied or get cheated at any moment. As taxi drivers are
always eager to make more money, they will usually fetch any
passenger that comes along. Otherwise,
the opportunity may be missed and they will not know when the next
customer will appear.
I feel that fare
cheats is an issue that needs to be addressed. Although there are laws against fare cheats, such
as a $1,000 fine for a first offender, a $2,000 fine for repeat
offenders or a six-month jail term or both, fare cheats continue to
be a problem. I believe it is not easy to apprehend fare cheats.
Usually, they will run off upon reaching their destination.
Sometimes, they will request the driver
to go to an ATM and will disappear from there. In many instances,
the taxi drivers are unable to provide adequate information about
the fare cheats and the authorities are therefore not able to
apprehend the culprits. Some taxi drivers also feel that it is
troublesome to pursue the matter and the chances of success may not
be high. Therefore, they do not report and will just treat it as
bad luck.
A few years ago, Dad
picked up four youngsters, about 10 years old, at Pasir Ris. They
wanted to go to three different places. At the final stop, two of them opened both the left
and right rear doors and fled without paying. Dad gave chase, but
naturally, he was not able to outrun the youngsters. The $20 to $30
fare was thus gone in a flash. This amount would have been enough
to cover 25% of the daily rental. Time and money were both
wasted.
Taxi drivers depend
on their hands to make a living. Every
day, they ply the roads to eke out a livelihood and it is not easy
to earn such a living. Just like all
other occupations, they deserve respect.
