The Taximan S Story

The Taximan’s Story
By: Catherine Lim
STORY
Very good,Madam.Sure,will take you there in plenty good time for your meeting,Madam.This way
better,less traffic,less car jams.Half hour should make it,Madam,so not to worry.
What is it you say,Madam?Yes,yes,ha,ha,been taximan for twenty years now,Madam.Long time

ago,Singapore not like this–so crowded so busy.Last time more peaceful,not so much taximen,or so much cars and
buses.
Yes,Madam,can make a living.So so.What to do.Must work hard if wants to success in Singapore.People
like us,no education,no capital for business,we must sweat to earn money for wife and children.
Yes.Madam,quite big family–eight children,six sons,two daughters.Bigfamily!Ha!ha!No

good,Madam.In those days,where got Family Planning in Singapore?People born many,many children,every
year,one childs.Is no good at all.Today is much better.Two children,three children,enough,stop.Our goverment say
stop.
Lucky for me,all my children big now.Four of my sons working–one a businessman,two clerks,one a
teacher in Primary school,one in National Service,one still schooling,in Secondary Two.My eldest daughter,she is
twenty plus,stay at home,help the mother.No,not married yet–very shy,and her health not so good,but a
good,obedient girl.My other girl–Oh,Madam!very hard for father when daughter is no good and go against
her parents.Very sad,like punishment from God Today,young people not like us when we
are young.We obey.Our parents say don’t do this,we never do.Otherwise,the cane.My father cane me,I was big
enough to be married,and still,got caning.My father he was very strict,and that is good thing for parents to
be strict.If not,young boys and girls become very useless.Do not want to study,but run away,and go to night
clubsand take drugs and make love.Youagreewith me.Madam?Today,young people they are very trouble to
theirparents.Madam,you see this young people over there,outside the coffee-house?See what I mean,Madam?They
are only schoolboys and schoolgirls,but they act like big shots,spending money,smoking,waering latest fashion,and
making love.Ah Madam,I know,I know!As taximan,I know them and their habits.Madam,you are a teacher,you
say?You know or not that young schoolgirls,fifteen,sixteen years old,they go to school in the morning in their
uniforms and then after school,they don’t go home,they have clothes in their schoolbag,and they go to public
lavatory or hotel and change into these clothes,and they put make-up on their face.Their parents
never know.They tell their Mum got school meeting,got sports and games,this,that,but they really come out and play
the fool.Ah,Madam,I see yuo surprise,but I know,I know all their tricks.I take them about in my taxi.They usual is
wait in bowling alley or coffee house or hotel,and they walk up,and friend,friend,the European and American
tourists,and this is how they make fun and also extramoney.Madam,you believe or not when I tell you how much
money they got?I say!Last night,Madam,this young girl,very pretty and made-up,and wear sexy dress,she told me
take her to Orchid Mansions–this place famous,Madam,fourth floor flat–and she open her purse to pay me,and I
say!all American notes–ten dollar notes all,and she pull one out and say keep change!as she has no
timealready.Madam,I tell you this,every month,I got more money from these young girls and their American and
European boyfriends in my taxi,more than I get from other people who bargain and say don’t want go by meter and
wait even for ten centschange.Phui!!Some of them really make me mad.But these young girls and their boyfriends
don’t bargain,they just pay,pay,and they make love in taxi so much they don’t know if you go round and round and
charge them by meter!I tell you,Madam,some of them don’t care how much they spend on taxi.It is like this:after
1p.m. taxi fare double,and I prefer working this time,because naturally,much more money.I go and wait outside
Elroy Hotel or Tung Court or Orchid Mansions,and such enough,Madam,will have
plenty business.LastSaturday,Madam,no joking,on one day alone I make nearly one hundred and fifty dollars!Some
of it for services.Some of tourists don’t know where,so I tell them and take them there,and that’s
extra money.Ah Madam,if I tell you all,no end to thestory.But I will tell you this,Madam.If you have young
daughter and she say Mummy I got meeting today in school and will not come home,you must not say,Yes,yes,but
you must go and ask her where and why and who,and you findout.Today young people not to trust,like young
people in many yearsago.Oh,Madam,I tell you because I myself have a daughter–oh,Madam,a daughter I love very
much,and she is so good and study hard.And I see her report cards and her teacher write’Good work’and
‘Excellent’so on,so on.Oh,Madam,she my favourite child,and I ask her what she want to be after left school,and she
says go toUniversity.None of my other children could go to University,but this one,she is very smart and intelligent–
no boasting,Madam–her teachers write ‘Good’and ‘Excellent’,and so on,so on,in her report cards.She study at
home,and help the mother,but sometimes a little lazy,and she say teacher want her to go back to school to do extra
work,extra coaching,in her weak subject,which is maths,Madam.So I let her stay back in school and day after day
she come home in evening,then she do her studies and go to sleep.Then one day,oh Madam,it make me so angry
even now–one day,I in my taxi driving,driving along and hey!I see a girl looking like my Lay Choo,with other girls
and some Europeans outside a coffee-house but I think,it cannot be Lay Choo,how can,Lay Choo is in school,and
this girl is all dressed up and make-up,and very bold in her behaviour,and this is not like my daughter
at all.Then they go inside the coffee-house,and my heart is very,very–how you describe it,Madam,My heart is very
‘susah hati’and I say to myself,I will watch that Lay Choo and see her monkey tricks.The very next day she is there
again I stop my taxi,Madam,and I am so angry.I rush up to this wicked daughter and I catch her by the shoulders and
neck,and slap her and she scream,but I don’tcare.Then I drag her to my taxi and drive all the way home,and at home
I thrash the stupid food and I beat her and slap her till like hell.My wife and some neighbours they pull me away,and
I think if they not pull me away,I sure to kill that girl.I lock her up in her room for three days,and I ashamed to tell
her teacher,so I just tell the teacher that Lay Choo is sick,so please to excuse her.Oh,Madam,how you feel in my
place?Make herself so cheap,when her father drive taxi all day to save money for her University.What is
it,Madam?Yes,yes,everything okay now,thank you.Shecannot leave the house except to go to school,and I tell her
mother always check,check in everything she do,and her friends–what sort of people they are…What,Madam?Oh,so
sorry,Madam,cannot wait for you to finish your meeting.Mustgo off,please to excuse me.In a hurry,Madam.Must go
off to Hotel Elroy–there plenty people to pick up.So very sorry,Madam,and thank you very much.
REFLECTION
It is a story playing with satiric humor. It is very entertaining and yet disheartening. It makes the reader, like me;
realize the grave reality of life and how ironic it gets sometimes.
Indeed life is like a joker. It gives you what you least wanted. The taxi man verbally expressed his hate on the
developing bad habits of the youth. He repeatedly criticized them or even mocked them. And then despite that, he was
awarded with one daughter doing the same “bad” behaviors.
Being a parent is the hardest role a person can have. It’s a 24/7 duty. No time outs or holiday breaks. The
responsibility is lifetime, from the point of conception till the end. Like all fathers, the Taxi man is a good father. He
works nonstop to provide for his family needs, especially for their education. He grabs every opportunity to earn, he
even cater to those children that he detest.
Aside from that, Mr. Taxi man is a very good observer man. He sees everything. He notices the deterioration of
Singapore, the trouble with the youth and their behaviours. He knows what drives the people, what is in for the public
and what is not. He does not keep those observations but voice them out to those he thinks could act on it. His
passenger at the moment was a teacher.
Remember that teachers and parents are those who have primary responsibility for the discipline of the students.
They should work hand and hand to form a better person.
Use iron hand if needed, but gentle cradle is always invited. Children go astray without the proper attention of
guardians, especially on the adolescent stage of their life. Youth tend to love adventure and experiment most of the
time. They like thrills and excitement.
It is not bad to be adventurous. People just need to be careful with whatever they enter into. Because, most of the
time, they get lost in the so called “thrill of the moment”. This becomes addiction.
As a student, I think it is a must for us to heed our parent’s/guardian’s advice. They may not be perfect, but they have
been there in our situation already, thus they have that wisdom that may help us in every decision we make. Besides
as parents they will usually want the best for us.
Friends make life better or a living hell, depending on the influence they give us. We must choose those we associate
ourselves. Remember the saying, “Tell me who your friends are, and I tell you who you are”.
Experiences are the best teacher. Lai Choo had been mistaken. His father might have been harsh. But still, that anger
was out of love for his daughter, teaching her that it is never right to lie to your parents, and that her behavior is not
right. For those students like Lai Choo, it is never too late to change and be better.
When you’re wrong, accept your mistakes, learn from it and move on. That’s how simple it is. Don’t let it weigh you
down. You have to always get back up. In life you have to laugh and go with the flow with Mr. Joker. Because that’s
life.
- Where there is life, there is hope
- Where there is God, there is Life.
Yours Truly,
BinibiningMagsasaka

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The Taximan’s Story

By: Catherine Lim

What is it you say,Madam?Yes,yes,ha,ha,been taximan for twenty years now,Madam.Long time

Yes.Madam,quite big family–eight children,six sons,two daughters.Bigfamily!Ha!ha!No

- Where there is life, there is hope

- Where there is God, there is Life.

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