I saw this comment on SimplyJean’s blog post.
Chin | December 20th, 2007 at 4:22 am
I work in a school where a high enough percentage of pupils who received the Financial Assistance Scheme have one of their parents who is a taxi driver. If I am one such driver, I would wait 7 minutes for the extra $4 too. $4 might be the allowance for my child for 2 days. What is 7 minutes compared to the chance a blogger who might have a chai latte for maybe more than $4 know about my family?
The comment was made in response to Jean’s post about a recalcitrant Tax Drivers who hide to wait for the peak hours so he can earn a few more bucks.
While I can understand where ‘Chin’ is coming from, perhaps ‘Chin’ should know the school which he works in, isn’t the whole of Singapore. And could ‘Chin’ actually prove to us that every recalcitrant taxi driver has a financial problem? What about those Mercedes Benz cabbies? Just the rental alone would be $120 bucks at least, if I am not wrong?
Jean made a good point in her response, I quote:
I know for sure that they must earn at least $1000 per month because if they don’t then it’s better off for them to sign on to be a paid taxi driver. Yes, SMRT has this option for paid taxi drivers, but they are only paid $1000 a month. I agree that it’s the perogative of the taxi drivers not to fetch anyone. However, in doing so, they are also breaking the law. It’s akin to stealing, robbery and extortion. But as the saying goes, “you can do anything as long as you don’t get caught”. If what the taxi driver are doing is right, then why would the LTA go all out to police them? Even if they need the money, it’s all in their conscience to earn it well. Do you mean to say that as long as I am poor, I have the rights to lose my conscience? I agree that Singapore is a harsh city and probably not the best place for people who are not doing well, but the taxi drivers are not the only ones – everyone is in it – but does everyone have to get their money in a dishonest manner? Hmm…
Every cabbie you talk to, will always whine about how tough their living is. What else is new? In fact, if you talk to anyone else, if they aren’t whining about how tough it is to earn money, they will whine about their financial burdens and how they wish they could earn a few more bucks a day! So, let me repeat this like broken record, most of us don’t have an easy living too. So, there is no reason whatsoever for us to make it easier for anyone else. There is no reason whatsoever for us to feel sorry for them if their lives are tough. It is almost unlikely anybody will feel sorry for us, if we fxxked up.
Had the LTA, the PTC and the vampiric transport operators done any soul searching at all, they would know for a fact the surcharges is the very evil system that’s creating a problem and it should be eliminated. They should have done away with it and replace it with a high flag down a long time ago and that would have dealt with the problem of cabbies hiding, ‘taking a break’, or driving around until they get a call.
Frankly, is it my fault if I want a cab in town after work during the so-called ‘peak hours’? Don’t ask me who’s the wise crack that designed the city this way where you have a large number of people concentrating at parts of the island at specific times. And I am supposed to pay for this design flaw?! LAN CHEOW, ok?!
In fact, a clamp down on call booking by barring cabbies from receiving a call booking if them cab has been empty for more than 15 minutes would force them to take that time to drive to the areas where the demand is. And when they received a call booking, they should bear the call charges all on their own, while we shouldn’t even need to pay a cent more, because they are being told to go to where their business is or else they would have to go look for it.
In fact, the so-called ‘World Class’ satellite system in the cabs should be used to inform the cabbies where the concentration of people are so they will know where to go to and leave them no avenue to whine about not being able to find a passenger while they languish 30 minutes in a queue in town or try frantically to call for one.
In summary, if life is difficult for these cabbies, it makes people wonder if half of their difficulties are not self inflicted. (The other half is of course, that of transport operators sucking their blood, and our wonderful gover-min supporting the invasion of Iraq, driving the oil prices up. Well, I know it isn’t exactly fair to blame the gover-min for the oil prices but they can consider this part of their $3 million a year pay package!)
Anyway, the operator’s high rental and high fuel cost is the cabbie’s problem. not mine! Just don’t expect me to pay for it because I am paying higher electricity tariffs due to it too but who is fighting for my pay increment? And who is always asking us to bite the bullet when the time is tough?
If these cabbies do not change their mindset, there is no reason for us to feel sorry for them at all. There should be no pity, and no mercy, until those who can afford a cab (or willing to pay for one), can get a cab as easily as any other cities in the world!
chappy> Technically I agree with you. After all COE has fallen quite a bit and the transport operators Comfort and SMRT are both reporting record profilts.
SanNiang> I shudder at the thought of peak hour MRT / Bus surcharges. But continue to give the Tali-PAP the mandate and I am quite sure it will be a possibility. As for letting nature take its course, the Tali-PAP won’t let it happen… lol
i think otherwise … let nature take its course … let all cabbies own their own cab .. let them charge wat ever they way .. and remove all cab quota ….
Actually, the best way to please all the cabbies and customers is to simply reduce the rental fee for the cab.
Of cause we should reject the surcharge scheme. Else they will soon place the surcharge scheme on MRT and Buses as well.