It's a cabby's life

HE WAS driving when one of his passengers grabbed him by the neck for no reason whatsoever.

The male passenger, who boarded the taxi with another man and a woman, had earlier been arguing with the woman about their destination.

Then, out of the blue, he attacked the driver.

Shocked, the cabby stopped his taxi and ran out.

But the two male passengers were unrelenting. They followed him and attacked him.

The men, who were drunk, fled the scene only when the woman called the police.

By then, the driver suffered injuries on the left side of his face, as well as his shoulder and right leg, and was given three days of medical leave.

No police report was made. The passengers eventually paid the cabby $500 as compensation.

ComfortDelgro, which provided details of the incident, said it happened a few years ago.

The company, which has the biggest fleet here, with about 15,500 taxis, said there were 34 cases of its cabbies being beaten by passengers last year .

That's almost three assaults a month.

The spotlight was thrown on cabby-passenger conflicts following MediaCorp TV host Quan Yifeng's altercation with a cabby, also from ComfortDelgro, last week.

Quan's lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan of Khattar- Wong, confirmed that the TV host and her daughter met him on Wednesday.

In some cases, cabbies have died in such conflicts. In others, the cabbies were robbed.

A ComfortDelGro spokesman said that it helps such distressed drivers with their medical claims and losses.

Rental of their taxis can also be waived.

Distress button

All of its taxis now come with a distress button which can be activated when the drivers are in danger. The customer contact centre would either call the driver to follow up or call the police.

The company can also use Global Positioning System technology to locate the distressed driver.


Mr Frankie Tan, 55, a cabby of 20 years, said he once encountered a female passenger in her early 20s who hurled vulgarities at him.

They had argued over the payment for the fare. The passenger later got her friends to join her.

Said Mr Tan: "Even though I told her that she didn't need to pay the fare, she still slammed my door so hard that my cab shook. She even got a group of her friends to come out of the pub to confront me.

"Fortunately, they just wanted to show off and didn't harm me."

He has also been threatened by passengers who "act like gangsters".

He said: "They told me that they would find me and that they would come and get me."

But he doesn't take such threats seriously.

Mr Tan said: "Most of these people are in a bad mood. They just want to find trouble."

It is not just unruly passengers that taxi drivers have to contend with.

Mr Thomas Woo, 60, said that he has encountered fare cheats 24 times over the 13 years he has been driving a taxi.

While most fare-cheats flee once they reach their destination, some have shouted and waved their fists at him.

Such aggressive passengers tend to be drunk or in a bad mood, said MrWoo.

Mr Woo said that he remains calm and does not add fuel to fire by quarrelling with the passengers.

Mr Woo said in Mandarin: "Some drivers would provoke the passengers by saying, 'Complain lah, complain lah'.

"But we are just drivers. How do we fight with the passengers? We just bear with it until the passenger gets off, then we heave a sigh of relief and move on to the next passenger."

Twice, his passengers had threatened to beat him up.

He has been robbed him twice by passengers, losing about $100 each time.

He said: "Despite the dangers, I still have to do my job so that I can take care of my family."

This article was first published in The New Paper.

in my past few years as a taxi driver, the worst passengers are Indian men. Indian women still ok. Indian men, whether drunk or sober,they are fucking snakes! :oIo:

When I started driving, there was once after midnite, I remember one young indian man,speaking very good english, asked me to fetch him to AMK ave 10 from Queensway, throughout the journey, we chatted and i gained his trust. Upon reaching his destination, he told me he has no money in his wallet and has to go up to his flat to take money.
I said ok and he went up, and perform a david copperfield then disappear. 1st lesson learnt that is Never trust Indian snakes.:oIo:

2nd incident, one indian youth and his gf,wanted to go bukit panjang from jurong west. As i was not sure which exit he want to take, i asked him politely. He yaya,apparently infront of his girlfriend said that I sialan! I just kept quiet and can sense that his gf know that I was about to erupt. Upon reaching destination, he took out $50 note and still kaopeh kao bu. I took the right route and still kanna verbal abused by him. lan lan...

3rd incident, another indian man in his forties, an executive. this time at the airport. I greeted him and helped him load his luggage,as soon as he board my cab,he said he wanted to pay by NETS. I said sorry but my cab no NETS and he he has to pay by cash only. Immediately, He said he want to call the police. Got fed up and I said you siao! go on,go call the police! I got down of my cab and asked him to get down. He refused and like a child throwing tantrums,refused to get down. at that time, airport long queue,lot of pple watching the commotion. Finally, I told the uncle,the taxi usher at the airport about this Indian snake passenger. he saw and knew what was going on. He went to him and asked him board another cab. Can you believe that this fucking indian still have the cheek to ask me to transfer his luggage to another cab. I just took his luggage and leave them behind my cab. At least, I did not hurl his luggage to elsewhere. Finally, it was the usher uncle who helped him with the luggage.

Nowadays,unless bopian, I will not fetch Indian passengers. Other cabbies also know abt how chao kuan Indians are. My ex hirer have to drive one to the NPP cos' he don't want to pay him for the fare.

Some cabby truly deserves trashing...

Some talk big about how much they strike in 4D but still driving taxi. They quack non-stop during the trip and I feel like smashing his head.

Some talk like big boss but later ask you if can lent him $100 to tide him over.

Some molest girls who are tipsy and denied all the way when confronted by the boyfriend.

Some pretended to be nice and chat up female passengers, leaving thei contact number or pester the passenger for their number.

majority of the cabbies are good and decent pple,no doubt there maybe few blacksheeps. So dun be bias.

HellAngel said:

Some cabby truly deserves trashing...

Some talk big about how much they strike in 4D but still driving taxi. They quack non-stop during the trip and I feel like smashing his head.

Some talk like big boss but later ask you if can lent him $100 to tide him over.

Some molest girls who are tipsy and denied all the way when confronted by the boyfriend.

Some pretended to be nice and chat up female passengers, leaving thei contact number or pester the passenger for their number.

Click to expand...

i think local passenger still ok lar.. those FT passenger .. i no comment

hmm...majority of FT quite humble,they always like to sit in front and chat with you. They think it's rude to sit alone behind. Local,whao lan eh! got chance,you will know. Angmo passengers, you must chat with them,talked to them, drive smoothly and they will give you tips.:p

prince123456 said:

i think local passenger still ok lar.. those FT passenger .. i no comment

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wahlaneh...
how come comfortdelgro never send their taxi drivers for self-defence martial arts class?
any arts will do mah.

i think no use lah,if someone point a knife at your neck in the cab,you dare to fight back?

wahlaneh said:

wahlaneh...
how come comfortdelgro never send their taxi drivers for self-defence martial arts class?
any arts will do mah.

Click to expand...

Sorry,

Never had a good impression of cabbies. The only ones I find okay are those who took up the job after their retirement or those driving to supplement their income.

There are those young punks who drives taxi for a living. Those guys are the problematic ones.

krafty said:

majority of the cabbies are good and decent pple,no doubt there maybe few blacksheeps. So dun be bias.

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taxi drivers aint no saints themselves.

most taxi drivers are tua kang yau siew arseholes.

some are problematic gamblers, some are gays, some have PRC mistress.

some are internet 'chee hong' ( u know who u are huh)

Methinks 9 out of 10 cabbies are crooks ....

krafty said:

majority of the cabbies are good and decent pple,no doubt there maybe few blacksheeps. So dun be bias.

Click to expand...

True!, ture!...black sheep not sheeps...one sheep, many sheep...

but black sheep are multiplying I have come across many, who pretend not to know the route & take the longer route if you do not doze off in the taxi....I always sit in front, so that I can watch the signals, changing of gears & speed...all the tricks some black sheep will do...

other than that, they are decent folk who earn a honest day living, helping the taxi operators to survive...thank you taxi drivers

I do not understand why with the obscene profits that the taxi companies made here, how come they cannot have other technologies like in US, they have cabs equipped with simple cameras so that everything is recorded.

Any issues or non-paying passengers would have their picture taken and forces even the snakes to be dishonest. Even Indian taxi-drivers that i know of told me they never want to take those from India.

Then there are cabs in Japan or in China who has a physical transparent shield separating the rear passengers from the driver with only a small hole to pass the fare and to receive change. Also, cab drivers can refuse passengers to sit in the front passenger seat past a certain timing.

Making money they know, making it safe for everyone is a no go.

me think that you are a faggard cum pervert!

Equalisation said:

Methinks 9 out of 10 cabbies are crooks ....

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Thanks for sharing bro. Are these local Indians or FTs?

krafty said:

in my past few years as a taxi driver, the worst passengers are Indian men. Indian women still ok. Indian men, whether drunk or sober,they are fucking snakes! :oIo:

When I started driving, there was once after midnite, I remember one young indian man,speaking very good english, asked me to fetch him to AMK ave 10 from Queensway, throughout the journey, we chatted and i gained his trust. Upon reaching his destination, he told me he has no money in his wallet and has to go up to his flat to take money.
I said ok and he went up, and perform a david copperfield then disappear. 1st lesson learnt that is Never trust Indian snakes.:oIo:
an.

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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Some Indians, due to their caste system in India, have serious attitude problems.......

But local indians are quite OK.....

to answer both your questions,local indians! Foreign indians are the same,once they get accustomed to the life here,if they know they can take advantage of you,they will! These are the traits of indians! I swear cos' i know them too well.

krafty said:

to answer both your questions,local indians! Foreign indians are the same,once they get accustomed to the life here,if they know they can take advantage of you,they will! These are the traits of indians! I swear cos' i know them too well.

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Since government also exploit you. The Indians naturally follow .

wuqi256 said:

Then there are cabs in Japan or in China who has a physical transparent shield separating the rear passengers from the driver with only a small hole to pass the fare and to receive change. Also, cab drivers can refuse passengers to sit in the front passenger seat past a certain timing.

Click to expand...

US taxis have bullet-proof glass shields between front seats and back seats. There's a communication slot and a payment slot at the control of front panel. Taxi drivers can refuse passengers who prefer the front seat if they feel unsafe. Simply lock up and/or move on. What to do in a country with more than 200m pieces of firearms circulating around, not counting the military.

wuqi256 said:

I do not understand why with the obscene profits that the taxi companies made here, how come they cannot have other technologies like in US, they have cabs equipped with simple cameras so that everything is recorded.

Any issues or non-paying passengers would have their picture taken and forces even the snakes to be dishonest. Even Indian taxi-drivers that i know of told me they never want to take those from India.

Then there are cabs in Japan or in China who has a physical transparent shield separating the rear passengers from the driver with only a small hole to pass the fare and to receive change. Also, cab drivers can refuse passengers to sit in the front passenger seat past a certain timing.

Making money they know, making it safe for everyone is a no go.

Click to expand...

A very dangerous suggestion

If they do this, they will pass the costs down to you

Fare hikes will come next!!

:o