STOMPer Oldham was shocked when an SMRT cabby claimed that he did not know where Nicoll Highway was.
This STOMPer had requested to the cabby to go by Nicoll Highway to reach his destination, instead of taking the East Coast Parkway (ECP), but the driver did not accede to the STOMPer¡¯s request.
Oldham says:
¡°I would like to share an unpleasant cab ride I had on 9 Feb 2009.
¡°My wife and I boarded this SMRT cab during the evening peak hours at the Suntec area, in order to travel home to Hougang.
¡°I requested for the driver to travel by Nicoll Highway as I saw a massive jam on the ECP earlier from my office windows.
¡°Surprisingly, the driver did not know where Nicoll Highway was and he just turned into ECP, asking if he could go by that way.
¡°There was no way to turn back then. We then spent 45 minutes stuck in a jam on the ECP.
¡°What disturbed me was that the man did not sound local and there was no driver's licence displayed!¡±
¡°I had to guide him throughout the rest of the journey, like which exit to take and which avenue to turn into. The driver seemed to have absolutely no idea about the roads in Singapore.
¡°How can any cab drivers be allowed on the road without any licence displayed and with totally no knowledge of Singapore roads?¡±
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Hmm.....if this is a true story, this is no small matter. I hope SMRT will look into this seriously. And i urge fellow members to keep a constant look out of illegal cabbies.
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Spent so much time post on Stomp must well giving clear instruction beforehand. New driver when asked to go destination via a specific point and when this point is out from his mind is very confussing but why he didn't ask. If I were pax I want to spend lesser and don't want jam I would say go Hougang, go by Beach Rd right to Java Rd then Nicoll Highway to KPE before taxi out from taxi stand.
Naturally, consummer when buying things will tell the supplier his expectation but why taking taxi not having same mindset? For instance, buying kopi, if we need thicker we then tell him Kopi-O otherwise drink as what we have been given. Taking cab is similar, from pt A to pt B may have few combination of roads connected pax shouldn't expect drivers can read his mind.
A case of FT moonlighting as taxi-driver? If so, i agree with bro bluenuts that this is indeed a very serious matter. SMRT must conduct a thorough investigation and respond transparently. Not one of those template replies. It should not be difficult as as taxi registration number is clear for all to see. We await..........
I don't think they are illegal. New citizens. I have heard same complaint from passenger too. They are all from SMRT. One speak only cantonese, little Mandarin, little English,totally no Hokkien. Must tell him how to go.However,they are polite, though.
SMRT hard up already. Easily and hastily conduct taxi drivers courses,only want to rent out taxis laying in the carparks.
New citizens driving taxis?????? Wait long long lah! Complaints also come long long.
If they are genuine new citizens then it's ok as they do fulfill the requirement. But if some of their cabbies try to cheat by sublet it out to illegal cabbies then it's no joke. Or worst, these new citizens sublet it out illegally to their fellow countrymen, cos when they are on the road, who can identify them since only police, LTA officers and their respective coy rep can ask for their TVL.
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Life's too short and Unpredictable, Treasure and Love what you got.
I don't think they are illegal. New citizens. I have heard same complaint from passenger too. They are all from SMRT. One speak only cantonese, little Mandarin, little English,totally no Hokkien. Must tell him how to go.However,they are polite, though.
SMRT hard up already. Easily and hastily conduct taxi drivers courses,only want to rent out taxis laying in the carparks.
New citizens driving taxis?????? Wait long long lah! Complaints also come long long.
-- Edited by donsan at 14:45, 2009-02-23
Something smells fishy..how they passs their taxi course ??? everything is in english right ?
Personally I think that there are illegal unlicensed taxi drivers. Who is to stop hirers from hiring out illegally ? How often do LTA or TP check for drivers license ??
Typical mindset if nothing happens lassie fare....wait till something and the whole bloody system starts waking up and implementing new measures and rules...
I do not have to elaborate further just think back how many times or cases has to happened before something is in place....
The taxi driver who allegedly told a STOMPer he didn't know where the Nicoll Highway was has been taken to task by SMRT.
Earlier, Oldham had requested to the driver to take this route. Instead, the cabby claimed he didn't know where the highway was and drove the former to the ECP instead.
In its reply to STOMP, SMRT Corporation Ltd says:
"We are sorry to hear of STOMPer Oldham¡¯s experience with our taxi driver on 9 February (¡°Cabby claims he does not know where Nicoll Highway is¡±, 22 February).
"We have conducted an investigation and have reprimanded the driver for not taking the passenger¡¯s preferred route of travel by Nicoll Highway.
"We have also reminded the driver to display his Taxi Driver¡¯s Vocational Licence in its designated slot, which he has since done."
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If you are willing to admit faults, you have one less fault to admit.