Just getting a licence and knowing Singapore
roads are no longer good enough if you want to be a cabby in
Singapore. Cabbies are expected to upgrade their skills, said the
National Taxi Association advisor Ang Hin Kee at the first-ever
National Day Observance Ceremony held by the taxi union on
Thursday.
Mr Ang said driving a cab is not the
"easier option", as drivers will need to meet commuters' increasing
expectations and Government standards. Besides driving, cabbies
will also have to do their sums, market themselves and identify
their business clientele to "expand their business", added Mr
Ang.
He said the NTA will also help the
cabbies to to improve the taxi industry by working closely with the
Land Transport Authority (LTA). He added however to reporters on
the sidelines of the event that he has so far not heard from the
LTA on NTA's 10 recommendations on how to improve the industry
which included better matching service for seasoned and relief
drivers.
Mr Ang, who is also an MP (Ang Mo Kio
GRC), added that NTA also aims to improve the health and well-being
of cabbies by conducting smoking cessation workshops and sport
programmes to help them keep fit. Labour chief Lim Swee Say who was
the guest-of-honour at Thursday's ceremony at the Kallang
LeisurePark gave out the first of 20,000 flags to cabbies to mark
National Day.
