Another great Singaporean Taxi Driver.

Today, we had another great Singaporean taxi driver experience. It was just the kind of experience that you hope visitors don't run into.

We booked a cab around lunchtime. After about five minutes the phone rang to announce that the cab, SHB 2214 (and one letter I didn't notice...I think a B, on the end, but can't be sure), had arrived. We got our things together and went down after a couple of minutes.

When we got into the cab, my wife noticed that the meter had obviously been running for awhile, since it had clocked beyond the starting point.

"Why has the meter been running, before we got in?", she asked, quietly of the driver who hadn't turned to look at us.

"I can start it when I call you.", he snapped, a little too forcefully.

"No you can't. That's against the rules." I countered, firmly.

"Why you take SO long, huh?", he said, his voice rising even further.

"We sometimes have to wait a long time for a cab.", Syahidah pointed out.

"Never mind sometimes," he began, attacking each word, "I was here early."

"I am not comfortable...", Syahidah began.

"Yes. Let's find another driver who is not such a jerk.", I continued.

We all got out.

I went back home to call another cab. I tried another company, at first -but they had no cabs. So, I had to resort to trying Comfort Delgro again.

The cab booking came through very quickly - as soon as I had put the request in. "SHB 2214..." said the booking service. I recognized his cab number at once. It was very clear what he was doing: he was blocking my desire to get another cab by picking up the booking himself, as soon as it appeared. (I later found out from my wife that he didn't drive away, he just parked up, very near our home, waiting for me to call the cab service.)

This was getting unpleasant. When I called for another cab, he was blocking all other drivers from taking the job, by picking it up himself, despite our argument with him.

I had to call the operator and specifically put in a disrequest for that driver. She cancelled him and gave me another cab. I explained that he had started the meter, in advance, apparently when he called us to say he had arrived. She told me that he wasn't supposed to do that.

In all, it was not a good experience. His actions made us feel harrassed - particularly when he began to interfere with our desire to get another driver. He was rude, aggressive, dishonest - and slightly mad. Sadly, he is not even unique among Singaporean drivers.

I am left to wonder what happens when a complaint is made against a driver. Is anything done, at all? Is there a disciplinary procedure? Observing the number of dishonest or unpleasant drivers on the roads, I rather feel that nothing is being done. As long as the drivers pay the taxi company their daily fee for the cab, I rather think the taxi firm doesn't really care how they behave. At least, there is no evidence of an improvement in taxi driver behaviour over the years.

When I call a cab, I expect an efficient, knowledgeable, polite and helpful driver to turn up. I don't expect a deranged and hostile man to turn up instead.

Would it not be better for the taxi firms to cancel the licenses of all such drivers, once they are identified through customer complaints?

Interestingly, I have never had such unpleasant experiences with taxi drivers in any other country I have visited. By comparison to most nations, Singaporean drivers are just not professional at all. They don't know where they are going - but they sure know how to cheat the customer. It is time for such practices to be outlawed.

As for us: we are gradually being persuaded of the wisdom of having our own car. Then we won't have to bother with irascible, unpleasant, dishonest taxi drivers ever again. At least, that is an answer we can control - and one that doesn't require the taxi firms to think of the customer before their corporate profits (which Singaporean companies just never do.)

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Happy Singapore National Day, 2008

Happy Singapore National Day, 2008.

Today is Singapore's 43rd birthday and much of the nation has gathered togethered to watch the National Day Parade celebration. Have a great day all.

(We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Ainan discovers Gravity, the hard way.

Everyone has heard the legend of Newton and his apple tree. Everyone knows that a falling apple is supposed to have inspired his insight into gravitation. Ainan, however, found another way to examine the issue of gravity.

Two days ago, when Ainan was on a swing in a playground, he was momentarily distracted and looked away from what he should have been paying attention to. This proved to be a mistake. Ainan fell face first from the swing, as it swung backwards. He reached out to break his fall with his left hand (being left-handed). Ouch. It hurt.

The pain accompanied him all the way home. It stayed with him as he lay recovering on the couch in front of the TV. It endured through all of his mother's soothing words. It even lay with him in bed that night. Syahidah told him: "If it is still painful in the morning, then we will know you have done something to it and we will take you to the Doctor."

In the morning, it was still painful. Ainan had slept the whole night with his arm bent across his chest as if in an invisible sling.

It was decided to take him to the Doctor since this looked like more than a bruising. The Doctor duly had the arm X-rayed. The arm had bent, near the wrist, in a zigzag fashion. So it was "broken" but not quite in the way an adult's arm would be, for his was more flexible than an adult's bone. The Doctor termed it a "buckle fracture".

His broken arm has been placed in a cast - and yes, now he has a visible sling, so there is no need for him to imagine one. The Doc says it will be a month before he can be without it.

So, now, Ainan has a month without the joys of penmanship and written homework. I am sure that, at his age, this must be a great burden!

I asked him about his attitude to the swings after this.

"I will still go on the swings." He said, determined not to be thwarted by something as inconsequential as Gravity.

I hope he takes better care next time. This time it was a broken arm...I dread to think what might get broken next.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

The toddler and the baby

How do toddlers see little babies? Tiarnan's reaction gives some insight.

On the 27th July, Tiarnan was visiting some friends with us. There was a newborn baby in the house (it was for a baby shower). Tiarnan was very taken by this baby. He peered into the cot, looking down on the resting baby.

He looked up at his mother, then and asked if Tiarnan could hold the baby. His mother picked up the baby, gently in answer and brought her over to the bed.

"Sit down." she said to Tiarnan, as she pointed at the edge of the bed. He did so. Then she placed the baby in his outstretched arms, continuing to hold it, herself.

Tiarnan wrapped his arms around the baby very carefully. There was a tenderness in him that was sweet to witness. He looked so pleased just to hold the baby in his arms. He looked down at her, with fascination in his eyes. It was almost, in a way, like witnessing a father holding his baby, such reverence was in his face. It seems that Tiarnan is a good daddy in the making!

It was interesting to note the care with which he approached the baby. Everything he did around her was gentle and careful in the extreme. His movements were slow and careful and he was careful not to squeeze her more than necessary to hold onto her. It was clear that he understood how delicate such a young baby is. It was endearing to watch him take care of her so - for, in our eyes, he is not, of course, much older himself, at just two. Yet, there he was, the Littlest "Daddy" in the world - or so it seemed in an emotional sense, with the sense of caring that he clearly embodied.

I look forward to the day that I am a grandfather and Tiarnan is a daddy. I fully expect to recognize his attitude towards his children from these early moments of Tiarnan the toddler, with a newborn baby.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

On learning to be grateful.

The discourse in Singapore concerning foreign workers is not kind. Often, it is clear, that the writer or speaker thinks ill of the foreigner. In the case of foreign workers who are doing menial jobs like construction or domestic work, it is usually the case that the Singaporean is looking down on the workers, as if on a lower form of life. They are spoken of as "something" to be avoided and shunned, "something" not to be allowed to congregate in public places, "something" to be wary of. There is a depersonalization of these foreign workers by many Singaporeans: they are, it seems, seen as less than fully human. At least, that is the impression the discourse gives.

In the past week or so, I have had cause to evaluate the contributions of these foreign workers to Singapore's success and prosperity, up close. Recently, foreign workers have been busy doing a job I challenge any Singaporean to try: standing on the roof of my apartment block, cleaning the tiles with a high pressure water hose.

Think about what that job means. You are high above the comforting land far below. If you make a mistake, it could cost you your life. The water you are using to clean the roof actually makes it slippery and dangerous, increasing the risk. On top of that, the job pays a pittance, slave wages being the tradition in the construction industry for foreign workers. Would you do that job?

The answer, I would guess, is no. Yet, these foreign workers are making an invaluable contribution to Singapore by putting their lives on the line doing jobs which Singaporeans would never do - yet, without which, Singapore would not be what it is today. These foreign workers, far from being people who should be looked down upon, are an essential part of the success of Singapore. Without them, Singapore could not continue to develop in the way that it has.

So, as I looked at the foreign workers standing on the roof to my apartment block, this past week, I felt a certain gratitude that they were prepared to do jobs that no-one else would do. These jobs are necessary to the maintenance of the quality of the environment in which we live - and yet jobs which have unacceptable risks. Quite a few foreign workers die on construction sites here, in Singapore, every year. They lose their lives trying to build a better Singapore. Is it right, therefore, to look down on them? I think, in some ways, they should be looked UP to. They should be looked UP to for having the courage and resilience to take on such unenviable jobs, no doubt to help support their relatives back home. They live hard lives, so that we might live better ones. That deserves a certain respect, I think.

I did note something about the workers. I only ever saw a safety harness once, on any of the workers. On all other occasions, no such harness was visible to me - yet I am on the top floor of the apartment block, able to see out onto the roof on which they stand. I saw one worker, who appeared to be unharnessed, as far as I could see, standing on the edge of the roof, blasting water onto it. Looking at his precarious position, I rather thought I wouldn't want to be doing what he was doing. Yet, he calmly proceeded with his work, as if he stood on the ground, and not at the top of a fall which would kill him, were he to lose his footing. Now, that deserves respect.

So, far from looking down on the foreign workers in Singapore, I value their presence and contribution and respect the courage they show in their daily work. Perhaps their working lives would be a little less hard if such a welcoming attitude were universal among Singaporeans, too.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Philosophy and the art of categorization.

Not all is as it seems in the world of Fintan, pocket philosopher and splitter of hairs.

In June, when Fintan was still four, I had a brief encounter with his own particular brand of logic.

Fintan looked up at me with the air of someone about to make an important announcement. "I need a bicycle with two wheels, Daddy."

"You've got a bicycle with two wheels, Fintan.", I pointed out, most accurately, I thought.

"No Daddy, the tires are not wheels, because they are flat."

He had a point after all.

"They have to be turned into wheels by Atto.", he went on, finding an answer to the problem of his No-wheeled Bicycle.

Atto is the title for Fintan's grandfather on his mother's side. Atto is famous for his gift with his hands, able to coax any uncooperative mechanical object to behave itself. I wasn't put out that he thought of Atto before me in such a context: for it was a true observation that Atto was better at all things mechanical, than I have ever been. Then again, he was better at such things than almost anybody.

I found Fintan's categorizing amusing. It meant that, for him, a wheel was not a wheel, if it could not do its job. It may look like a wheel but, for Fintan, if it was not fully functional, then it was something else. It is not a bad way to look at the world and may, in fact, be more useful than a more conventional way of seeing the world. Most people would have looked at his "bicycle" and seen a bicycle. Fintan looked at it and saw a "No-wheeled machine" that could not function as a bicycle since it hadn't got any wheels yet. So, to him, it wasn't even a bicycle - hence his request for a bicycle with two wheels. Speaking to him, sometimes, is like speaking to a philosopher, because he draws distinctions which are subtle, but valid, when you examine the underlying logic.

I like the way he sees the world. He views it differently from the way I do - and from the way others do, too. I hope he grows up with his own world view intact. I hope that exposure to the way others think, doesn't cause his own thinking to be given up, for theirs. His is both funny and interesting.

His bicycle, by the way, is now a "two-wheeled" one, according to Fintan's philosophical definition of a wheel.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)