- Joined
- Feb 17, 2009
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- 13,736
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Anyway, he took the whole incident graciously and treated it as a lesson learnt. He expressed that being a cab driver is tough, many times he have met the bad and ugly side of people. Unfortunately for him, he needs the job as he still has his family to support. His wife is suffering from an illness and his daughter, Ms Rebecca Koh, was born without vision.
Mr Koh did not believe in savings back in his earlier days. Most of his salary goes to paying for his wife’s treatment and funding his daughter to study music abroad. He shared that he was afraid his daughter would suffer from negativity, thus music there was to keep her occupied.
At this time, heI couldn't help not to share my experience with this cab driver. I took his ride yesterday afternoon (13 February) from Bukit Batok to Jurong West, and I was in all tears while listening to his story. I sincerely hope more people would know about this, and eventually hope that Mr Koh's situation will have a turnabout.
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“This is going to be my last month driving. I am retiring.” That was how the whole conversation started.
I presumed he was the usual chatty cab driver, so I continued the conversation by asking him about his retirement plans, and whether he could now live comfortably with his wife while his children support them.
It turned out to be nothing of that sort. His license has been revoked. Why is that so? Well, the authorities were not interested to hear his explanations, but I’ll tell you anyway.
The incident happened one night where he was driving around the CBD area. He saw 4 women hailing for a cab, and while some of the empty cabs drove pass them, he decided to fetch the passengers. He was unsure if the CBD surcharge was applicable at the pickup location, but the women told him yes, and so he proceeded to charge on his meter.
The next morning, however, he received a call from his company saying that someone has filed a complaint against him for overcharging. Apparently, the CBD surcharge was not applicable to the route he has taken the previous night. He tried explaining to the officers but to no avail. Their reply was, “As a driver, you should have known better.” was proudly playing some of the beautiful tracks performed by his daughter in the cab. Ms Rebecca Koh is now in her 30s but does not currently hold a job. She does, however, receive invitations by charity organizations occasionally to perform. Mr Koh has never once demanded for royalties for Rebecca’s performance, although he could have done so. He also shared that he is proud that Rebecca has a genuine wish to share her music with others, and said, “She may be blind, but (you know) her heart is not blind.”
By the end of my trip, I had to request Mr Koh to drop me off at the nearby ATM machine, as I did not carry enough cash with me. He stopped the meter and waited patiently for me to withdraw my cash. He even offered to drop me off at my exact location when I returned, thinking that it was still a distance away from my destination. Finally before I bid goodbye, I asked him what was his plans thereafter. He just smiled at me and said, “I don’t know, I’ll see how, maybe God has His plans.”
As a society, should we be more forgiving to a 65-year-old driver who may not be so up to date with the current road charges? We do know that some cab drivers tend to pick their passengers and it is frustrating sometimes. It is heartening to find cab drivers like Mr Koh who is not nitpicky about his passengers. My interaction with Mr Koh, though it was just a brief one, tells me that Mr Koh is certainly not someone who would intentionally overcharge his passengers. Mr Koh’s love for his family is also indeed commendable.
Perhaps we should also think about the implications of our actions on others. A simple complaint can cause cab drivers like Mr Koh to lose his job. We should have the same measures, as we currently have for our passengers, to protect our cab drivers from being victimised as well.
Valerie
TRS Contributor
Mr Koh did not believe in savings back in his earlier days. Most of his salary goes to paying for his wife’s treatment and funding his daughter to study music abroad. He shared that he was afraid his daughter would suffer from negativity, thus music there was to keep her occupied.
At this time, heI couldn't help not to share my experience with this cab driver. I took his ride yesterday afternoon (13 February) from Bukit Batok to Jurong West, and I was in all tears while listening to his story. I sincerely hope more people would know about this, and eventually hope that Mr Koh's situation will have a turnabout.
_______________________________________________________________
“This is going to be my last month driving. I am retiring.” That was how the whole conversation started.
I presumed he was the usual chatty cab driver, so I continued the conversation by asking him about his retirement plans, and whether he could now live comfortably with his wife while his children support them.
It turned out to be nothing of that sort. His license has been revoked. Why is that so? Well, the authorities were not interested to hear his explanations, but I’ll tell you anyway.
The incident happened one night where he was driving around the CBD area. He saw 4 women hailing for a cab, and while some of the empty cabs drove pass them, he decided to fetch the passengers. He was unsure if the CBD surcharge was applicable at the pickup location, but the women told him yes, and so he proceeded to charge on his meter.
The next morning, however, he received a call from his company saying that someone has filed a complaint against him for overcharging. Apparently, the CBD surcharge was not applicable to the route he has taken the previous night. He tried explaining to the officers but to no avail. Their reply was, “As a driver, you should have known better.” was proudly playing some of the beautiful tracks performed by his daughter in the cab. Ms Rebecca Koh is now in her 30s but does not currently hold a job. She does, however, receive invitations by charity organizations occasionally to perform. Mr Koh has never once demanded for royalties for Rebecca’s performance, although he could have done so. He also shared that he is proud that Rebecca has a genuine wish to share her music with others, and said, “She may be blind, but (you know) her heart is not blind.”
By the end of my trip, I had to request Mr Koh to drop me off at the nearby ATM machine, as I did not carry enough cash with me. He stopped the meter and waited patiently for me to withdraw my cash. He even offered to drop me off at my exact location when I returned, thinking that it was still a distance away from my destination. Finally before I bid goodbye, I asked him what was his plans thereafter. He just smiled at me and said, “I don’t know, I’ll see how, maybe God has His plans.”
As a society, should we be more forgiving to a 65-year-old driver who may not be so up to date with the current road charges? We do know that some cab drivers tend to pick their passengers and it is frustrating sometimes. It is heartening to find cab drivers like Mr Koh who is not nitpicky about his passengers. My interaction with Mr Koh, though it was just a brief one, tells me that Mr Koh is certainly not someone who would intentionally overcharge his passengers. Mr Koh’s love for his family is also indeed commendable.
Perhaps we should also think about the implications of our actions on others. A simple complaint can cause cab drivers like Mr Koh to lose his job. We should have the same measures, as we currently have for our passengers, to protect our cab drivers from being victimised as well.
Valerie
TRS Contributor
