Thursday, July 27, 2006

Are Our Taxi Drivers Savages?

I am quite sad to read this article on Today. The gist of it is that our taxi drivers are specially "trained" to welcome the IMF and World Bank delegates in September.
Some no-nos: Body odour, too many accessories and fidgeting while driving — according to a 66-page training handbook that was given to cabbies during the four-and-a-half-hour training sessions.
Do our taxi drivers need to be told to bathe before starting work, and how to dress respectfully? Are we still in Stone Age? I hope that our taxi drivers don't have much to "learn" from this kind of training.
What's encouraged: Warm smiles, moderate eye contact, information about Singapore's landmarks and pointers on where to shop and eat.

In short, cabbies must "look good and feel good with positive self talk", according to the handbook.

Taxi drivers Today spoke with understand this to mean that any inclination to rant or complain to the conference delegates and tourists about the Government and politics, or their personal lives, should be restrained.

"We were told to say nice things about Singapore," said Mr Lim Soon Huat, a cab-driver who had attended the workshop.
Taxi drivers need to be taught how to smile nicely and how to say nice things about Singapore. This is getting even more ridiculous. Taxi drivers are frontline of the service industry, and they need to be taught all that just a month before the IMF/WB meeting? What happened to years and years of Courtesy Campaign? Are our taxi drivers all that uncouth? It simply can't be. Our taxi drivers are one of the most highly educated among their counterparts in the world. This kind of training befits kindergarten kids more of our mini-tourism ambassadors.

Let us go on the other track and assume that our taxi drivers are such uncouth savages (sorry! cabbies). Shouldn't we take action sooner? I am sure local Singaporeans would find those behaviour very objectable as well. We should have start educating them eons ago, instead of putting up just a wayang (make believe) show for the benefit of the foreign delegates.

In the service industry, it's not a bunch of fake smiles but sincerity that counts. I think those very important foreign delegates would certainly be able to see through a fake mask and genuine sincerity.

Having said all that. I do have confidence that our taxi drivers would serve the foreign delegates well and good even without such demeaning "training". Afterall, taxi drivers receive thousands of tourists everyday and most of them gave an acceptable level of service.
A list of local tourist attractions, such as the Crazy Horse Paris nightclub, and restaurants along Boat Quay and Clarke Quay are also cited in the booklet. Nightspots are recommended according to various categories such as "city partying", "live entertainment acts" and "girls' night out".
I think that is almost totally unneccessary. It's their livelihood you are talking here. They are the experts in such fields and I don't think they need any "training" in that area. Yes, even if they are savages, they know their stuff.
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The WDA hopes to train some 10,000 full-time taxi drivers by September. Participants are compensated with $68 to attend the training session instead of plying the street.
Ahh...here is the reason why our taxi drivers are willing to bear with such personal insults. $68 in 4 hours is good money, taking into consideration of the "rising price of diesel". If you don't believe me, ask any taxi driver. $68 profit in 4 hours is very decent, all without toiling the roads.

I guess in these bad times, our taxi drivers have to put their livelihood above dignity.



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posted by wert | Thursday, July 27, 2006 | Email This!


4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Wert,

Sorry, can't find an email link so had to post it as a comment. Your blogrolls on the side, it should ben Mr Wang, not Mr Wong. :)

Fri Jul 28, 12:41:00 PM 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

this is an e.g of our govt micro-managing our lives - like when to bathe, when to smile, when to talk, etc.

Fri Jul 28, 12:41:00 PM 2006  
Blogger wert said...

Opps...an embarrassing mistake.
Apologies to Mr "Wong"!

Thanks for pointing out the mistake, Cobalt Paladin. My contact is at the footer.

Fri Jul 28, 12:54:00 PM 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I want to laugh when i read this. lol.. I think all the taxi uncles are going to go... *what bullcrap.. lol* oops.. :P

Fri Jul 28, 02:13:00 PM 2006  

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Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to be authorative or clever in any way. It was based on rambling of a half crazed creature, so treat it as such and let it be! I was asked to keep my dangerous thoughts and unbalanced views all in one safe place , and so I did. Objectivity, Accuracy, Responsiblity and any High Standards are certainly not part of this blog's features. However, I must stress that I do not strive to mislead people, confuse people, and much less undermine our national strategy.