Confession:
I regret not defending cabby dad against rude men, says law
student
Confession pages on facebook are now the rage. Here's
STOMP's choice of the confession of the
day.
In today's featured confession, an NUS law student speaks up about
the injustices her father has to face for taking up a job as a taxi
driver to support the family -- a job deemed less respectable in
society.
"When I was younger, my dad had a good career that paid him well (a
job that pays you more than 10k a month now), until an economic
turmoil many years back.
"Now he works around the same position, many would say "wow" to,
but not many actually know he's underpaid. Most of the jobs are
taken by expats. He earns 4k a month adnw works thrice a
week.
"Therefore, besides his current job, he also works as a taxi
driver.
"This is because all his four children are pursuing bachelor
degrees and master degrees. His children do work part time but he
always wants the best for the family.
"Last night, my sister and I needed his help in delivering a big
heavy parcel to a friend's place. After delivering the parcel, I
told my dad that he can drop us there and continue fetching other
passengers since there were a number of people flagging for taxis
at the roadside.
"He however, insisted on taking us home. We then saw two men
flagging for a cab and I told my father to drop us there and take
them instead.
"My dad didn't want to let us travel home on our own so he asked
the men if they were okay with paying for the fare still. They
agreed and boarded his cab.
"On the way back, the man kept asking my dad about my sister and I
even after my dad answered that we are his daughters.
"The man then made remarks and asked questions like "your daughters
from which kind?", "from where, China or Vietnam?" and "how
much?"
"I don't know how many people can understand how disrespectful he
was to my father. It made my dad annoyed but he tried not fuel the
tension so he kept quiet.
"The man kept on pushing things further and said my dad was rude as
he did not answer his questions. My dad said he was being
disrespectful and the man got angry and said he will lodge a
complaint.
"He then made my dad drive to insignificant places like Sungei
Kadut and wasted time waiting. We were not even sure why he stopped
to wait, he just made us stop and swayed his head like a drunken
man. It was scary.
"When we arrived at his place he gave $10 out of the $25 fare and
walked away, and said my dad should feel lucky that he even
received his money> He went on to say that he will also lodge a
complaint.
"My dad tried to compromise regarding the fare but he was hot
headed and therefore my dad had to call the
police.
"The man asked the police to arrest my dad for causing
embarrassment for fear that he might be seen by his neighbours and
also for wasting his time (wasting his time? He would probably have
wasted more time trying to find a cab earlier).
"The policemen obviously didn't arrest my dad and after he left,
the policemen told my dad that he didn't have to worry as he's not
in the wrong.
"But how could he do this when before boarding his cab he had
agreed to pay the fare?
"Amidst all of that, my biggest regret is how I read law in school,
and am trained in NUS to speak up, and argue your way through many
things, but yet I did not defend my dad.
"I did not utter a word to the guy, to tell him that his words
didn't just strike anger but hurt that can never be healed and it
can only be placed behind us as we move on in life.
"I'm sorry that I had troubled my dad, but I was even more sorry
that my dad had to experience such awful things in
life.
"I'm well respected for being in a local university, with a bright
future and all sorts. But how can I ever more justify that my dad
deserves more respect for nurturing me, for bringing me up, that
he's the hero? It is of my sad realization that there seems to be
no longer hope for a moral change in Singaporeans.
"It will only get worse from here and though initially, I thought
of staying and fighting for the welfare of Singaporeans, the
impending social turmoil already exists amongst Singaporeans and
perhaps the only way to reverse everything is the presence of world
war 3 to teach everyone to be more grateful for everything in
Singapore.
"Gratitude, is it so hard to give? Schoolmates, leaders of
tomorrow:
"1) While you are customers, bear in mind how we should still treat
others the way we'd like to be treated. Please give taxi drivers
what they earn. You can complain about how taxi fares are so
expensive and such. But you have a choice not to take them. And you
should know that taxi drivers do not absorb that extra fare raise.
Our government takes them.
"2) Men, please watch your words and stop objectifying women. You
wouldn't like other men objectifying or label your sisters,
daughters or wives as sluts.
"3) Stop treating people based on the stigma the society place on
some jobs. Being a taxi driver (or a plumber etc) is an honourable
and well respected job in the western countries. My dad is a
graduate, things didn't turn out well for him so he had to juggle 2
jobs to "live comfortably". He's not begging for money, he's trying
to earn money in exchange for his service. Driving long hours IS
tiring.
"4) Even bankers have a lot of things they have yet to learn, just
because someone is a taxi driver that doesn't mean he knows every
road in Singapore. If he does, you should be ashamed cause it only
shows how much smarter he is to remember all the roads than you
can. If you complain about how taxi drivers "take the long way",
please let them know your preferred way early. While you think
being a taxi driver is so "low class", think about how many
different kind of people they experience every day in their lives.
It's a take away that many people will not experience in their
lifetime. All your drunkenness, conversations and actions have all
been witnessed by many taxi drivers.
"My dad is an honourable man who lives by the virtue "live with
what you earn and not by what you can get". Thus he works
hard.
"Help your fellow Singaporeans by being nice. I don't have a
fantastic GPA. But this is the experience that has made me a
thousand times more resilient, and it will be something I'll
treasure for the rest of my life."
