No smoking in taxis, please.

Smoking kills. So, does passive smoking (that is when you don't smoke but someone else does nearby, or recently). Knowing this, Singapore's authorities moved a couple of years ago, to control smoking in public places, banning it except in designated smoking areas, at cafes, hawker centres, eateries, restaurants (and later bars and clubs). Unpopular though this move was, with smokers, I think it is a good thing.


The other day, I got into a cab that had the strongest smell I have ever encountered in public transport: smoke. The whole cab reeked of cigarettes - every inch of the place emanated old, dead cigarettes. It was horrible. Now, I knew, at once, that this could only be because the driver was a heavy smoker and smoked in his own cab - because the smell was just too thick, too all-encompassing to have come from a recent passenger's cigarette. It wasn't the smell of just one fag - it was the smell of hundreds, all laid on top of one another. It was truly dreadful.



The stench was all the more surprising in that he had clearly not been smoking recently, since there was no smoke in the air and he had not a cigarette in his hand. It is just that he had smoked so consistently and persistently in his cab, that the very substance and fabric of the cab itself had come to smell like an ashtray, filled with fuming butts.



Now, I don't want my cab to smell like a cheap nightclub. I don't want to have to absorb thousands of airborne toxins, permeating the air of the cab. I want to breathe clean air. Why should I not when cabs are simply so expensive, anyway, these days? Did I ask the driver to give me free cigarette fumes? No. Yet, he did.



Now, I didn't know when I took that cab that smoking was not allowed in cabs. If I had known this, I would have noted his license number and reported him. Clearly, the fact that smoking in cabs is banned yet his cab smelled of smoke, indicates that the legislation is not working. It needs to be enforced. Taxis should be smoke free zones. Neither drivers nor passengers should smoke in cabs. If a passenger smokes, they will leave behind fumes for the next passenger to breathe - so no-one should smoke. Perhaps it is time to stiffen the penalties: a cab driver should lose the right to drive, if his cab smells of smoke. Such a penalty might actually work, if enforced.

I understand that some drivers are smokers and that, for them, ironically, smoking is a matter of life and death and they really must get their puff every hour/minute/second. Well, there is a simple solution: they will have to stop their cab somewhere, GET OUT, then smoke. They should not smoke in an enclosed space, because then they will smell of cigarette smoke, too.


I am glad, however, that this incident made me research the law around smoking in cabs. The next time I get into a cab that smells of smoke, I will report the driver. If everyone did this, it wouldn't be long before drivers (and passengers) did, indeed, stop smoking in what is, after all, a public place: a taxi.

(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.

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The most inconvenient taxi service in the world.

Is Singapore's now the most inconvenient taxi service in the world?

It seems to be getting that way. Last night, for instance, my wife and I took a cab into town on a night out. The strange thing about the journey is that the driver refused to alight where we wanted him to. He wanted to drive on, to another place, to "park at the taxi rank".

As he explained to us, taxi passengers, in Singapore, no longer have the freedom to alight where they please. Taxis may only stop at designated taxi stands - or at "buildings with driveways". The result of this bizarre new ruling applies to pick ups, as well. No longer do passengers in Singapore's central areas, have the right to flag a taxi. A taxi may only be taken from designated taxi stands - or the fabled buildings with driveways.

This creates a very inconvenient situation. A cab may no longer be caught from where one pleases, nor may it alight where one pleases: both aspects of the journey are now controlled and restricted.

Let us consider, for a moment what this means. The essential nature of a taxi service, in all other countries of the world, bar none, is that it will take you from wherever you like, to wherever you like. Not so, however, in Singapore. The possible points of departure and arrival are now strictly limited. In effect, the limitless convenience of taking a taxi has been reduced to a car service between "stations" - the taxi stands and driveways of public buildings. Thus the taxi service now operates just like a train service. With it goes all the convenience this mode of transport once had in Singapore.

The taxi stands are not innumerable. They are apparently, up to 300 metres away from any given point in town. Then there is another factor: you have to know where they are, to be able to take a cab from them - and many people, particularly visitors to Singapore, won't know. Thus, a typical journey to or from town, in Singapore may, given the 300 metre figure from the Straits Times, some months back, involve a walk of a third of a kilometre at both ends of the journey.

As someone who grew up in a different nation, with a different ethos, I find the gradual erosion of the effectiveness and convenience of taxi services in Singapore, a bit of a puzzle. I, personally, can see no good reason for destroying a mode of transport. For taxis have now been destroyed as a mode of transport to or from the central areas of Singapore.

Perhaps it is all just a health drive to get us to walk more. For now, you will have to walk quite a way to catch a cab - and then walk quite a way from your point of alighting, to get to your actual destination. Alternatively, you could now use the equivalent modes of transport that also use "stations": trains or buses - for they are now exactly the same as taxis in terms of style of operation - if not in price.

So, if you ever visit Singapore, remember this: you are not allowed to flag a taxi in a central area. You now know this. However, one has to wonder: how many tourists in Singapore would intuitively know that they have no right to flag a cab? There will be a lot of puzzled tourists, in time to come, wondering why taxi drivers refuse to pick them up, when they flag.

What a strange nation this is.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The Great ComfortDelGro Taxi Rip-off

Singaporeans, although they don't necessarily know it, already receive one of the worst taxi services in the world. Taxi drivers use every ploy in the book and some that aren't (ie. read "unethical") to increase their income at the expense of the Singaporean public. Yet, the situation is just about to get a lot worse.

ComfortDelGro, the largest taxi fleet in Singapore, comprising Comfort, CityCab and Yellow-top taxis, making up fully 65 per cent of all Singaporean taxis, with 15,000 of Singapore's 23,000 cabs, is going to DOUBLE taxi fares from Monday.

There have been hints, in recent days, of a "30 cent rise" in flag down rate. The fact that they would dribble out the news with that parsimonious description of the true state of affairs, is rather insulting to Singaporeans who may, now, be unable to afford a cab at all.

The flag down rate is indeed rising from $2.50 to $2.80. More significant, however, is that the rate of charge, for time and distance is DOUBLING to 20 cents per unit, from the present 10 cents. This means that taxis will now cost twice as much as before, on a per distance, per time basis. Yet, that is just the beginning of the price rises.

During the peak period - when people are most likely to be travelling, which is Monday to Friday, 7 am to 9.30 am and Monday to Saturday, 5 pm to 8 pm, there will be a 35% premium charge on the metered fare. Currently, the peak surcharge is a flat $2 no matter what the distance or time of journey.

The City Area Surcharge, for pick ups in the City area will TRIPLE to $3 and will be payable for a greater part of the day (Monday to Saturday, 5pm to Midnight). Currently, it is $1 payable Monday to Thursday, 5pm to 8 pm and Friday to Saturday, 5 pm to 11.30 pm.

The late night surcharge will be 50% of the metered fare, added on, from midnight to 5.59 am. Currently, there are staggered rates from 11.30 pm to 5.59 am.

The only improvement, from the point of view of the passenger, is that booking fees will be reduced to $3.50 prime time, Monday to Friday, 7 am to 9.30 am and 5pm to 11 pm. Currently they are $4. Off peak booking fees will remain at $2.50.

So what do all these changes mean to how much it will now cost to take a cab in Singapore?

Well, let us do an analysis.

For someone taking a cab home after work, at say, 7 pm, from the City area, for a journey which presently costs, say $12, what will the new cost be? Well, under the old regime, the flag down portion of that $12 is $2.50. The City Surcharge is $1. The peak charge is $2. The rest, $7.50 is the metered portion based on time and distance.

Under the new regime, the flag down would be $2.80. The metered portion would be charged at DOUBLE the rate, making it 2 times $7.50 = $15. The City area surcharge would be $3. This makes a total of $20.80. On top of this there will be a 35% peak period premium, giving a total for the fare of an astonishing $28.08!

They spoke of a "30 cents rise"...but what actually are ComfortDelGro doing? New prices on a typical sample journey are 234 % of present prices. This now makes taxi taking an unaffordable service for most Singaporeans. Almost no-one is going to agree to pay almost 30 dollars for a journey that until now has been 12 dollars, or so, on a regular basis. That is just for short trips. Long trips such as runs to the airport will now cost perhaps 50 or 60 dollars, compared to just over 20 dollars, presently, for many Singaporeans.

Singaporeans are being cheated on every front by the public taxi service. They are driven by poorly trained, ignorant, dishonest drivers who don't know where they are going and try to cheat the passenger every way they can - and now they will be gouged, by truly ugly fares everytime they board a cab.

It is, I feel, a time for Singaporeans to show what they think of these new fare rises: by never taking a cab from ComfortDelGro again. Should other cab services raise their fares in a similar way, they too can be avoided. If no-one agrees to these fares by taking cabs anymore, then they will have to reduce the fares to what they were before - or something similar.

Why is ComfortDelGro doing this? Well, it says it is an answer to the problem of unavailability of cabs, when people need them. I find that ludicrous. Why were cabs unavailable? Because the cab drivers were acting in unison, to cheat the customers, by "hiding" and refusing to pick up passengers unless they called them out, and paid call out charges. The drivers were only unavailable because they were busy cheating the consumer. Now, ComfortDelGro has had the inspired idea of rewarding these dishonest drivers by making the practice of gouging the customer official and ensuring that ALL taxi journeys are a complete rip-off. Thirty dollars for a modest trip out of town, for a country in which salaries are modest by Western standards (really, really modest, if the truth be known, for most Singaporeans), is far, far too much. Taxis, henceforth, will be for tourists only - who really don't have a choice and don't know any better.

The real answer to the issue of vanishing taxis and the inability to get one unless a call-out is made is much simpler than across the board, greedy fare rises. The real answer is to penalize any driver who behaved like that. There should have been high fines and perhaps custodial sentences for repeat offenders. That is what works in Singapore to bring behaviour into line - and that is what should have been done for taxi drivers. Their behaviour should have been made illegal, with stiff penalties.

Another alternative would have been to abolish the call-out charge altogether - and made it illegal not to take a call-out booking. That would have worked equally well.

In Singapore, taxi drivers will never do the right thing, in terms of service. They will always do what makes them the most money, even if that action is a dishonest one - or an illegal one (if no-one is looking). The notion of giving good customer service has not entered the consciousness of this particular workforce - nor, it seems, has it entered the minds of the ComfortDelGro executives who have just decided to multiply the price of a typical taxi journey by 2 and a third times.

Decisions like ComfortDelGro's affect the quality of life of everyone who lives and works in Singapore. Such decisions should be made with much more care. They say they are looking after the interests and livelihoods of taxi drivers. Well, what about everyone else's interests and livelihoods? My experiences with Singaporean taxi drivers have been very mixed. Some of the poorer experiences have led me to the opinion that drivers do not deserve special consideration. Many of them have behaved extremely dishonestly towards me. They need to be regulated - not rewarded with higher fares.

From Monday, the viable transport options of millions of Singaporeans will be reduced by one modality. For from Monday, millions of Singaoreans will no longer be able to afford one of the most convenient forms of transport previously available: the taxi cab.

The only hopeful possibility is if people stop taking cabs. If no-one takes cabs anymore, then prices will have to return to previous levels. I, for one, will do my utmost to find any other mode of transport than a taxi cab, in future. Quite frankly, with the levels of DISservice, presently common, and the new price rises - they don't deserve my custom - or yours, for that matter.

Note: Source of data on the new taxi fare structure: today's Today newspaper, page 3.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Are Singaporean taxi drivers trained?

Singaporean taxi drivers often strike me as among the least knowledgeable of their breed. Indeed, Singapore is the only country I have ever visited, in which the taxi drivers quite often don't know where they are going. It seems needless to add, but add I must, that Singapore is such a small country, that it is, in fact, a modest sized city, and that to not know where you are going, within it, as a professional driver, is quite some feat.

It is apt that I should comment at this time, for the largest taxi fleet is set to raise the flagdown rate of its taxis by a rumoured 30 cents and has hinted at other ways to raise revenue (read: increase pricing), as well. This comes upon the huge rise in call-out charges some months back.

The big question is, of course: are these price rises justified when service is so poor?

Before any prices rise, the taxi fleets need to address the issue of driver competence. Singaporean drivers are often a poorly informed and not particularly honest bunch. They don't know where they are going - or if they do, they deliberately take very circuitous routes. They do anything they can to inflate the fare and cheat the passenger - particularly if, like me, that passenger is a foreigner. I have seen all sorts of ploys - all of them calculated to deprive me of rather more dollars than is justified by the journey embarked upon. Some drivers have even driven off with the passengers' belongings. (Some 20,000 dollars worth of wedding gifts, for instance, in a famous recent case.) So, all in all, a Singaporean taxi is something to be wary of, for one reason or another.

A recent journey brought me to ask the title question. We booked a taxi (and paid the exorbitant surcharges), since we were going to a wedding. Rather than give him our precise location, we told him to drive to somewhere obvious, nearby.

"Jurong Junior College.", we requested, as we got into the cab.

"Where? I don't know.", he replied.

Ah, I thought, he doesn't know where the Junior College is.

"You show me.", he continued, pointing ahead at the mystery of the roads, on which he drove daily.

So, we were to show a professional driver, in a very small city, where to go...

We got to the first meeting of roads and he slowed. "Which way?" he asked, without embarrassment.

It was clear, then, that it was not the Junior College that he didn't know the way to. He didn't know the way to Jurong. That flabbergasted me - for it meant he didn't know the city at all.

As the journey proceeded, this man, who had the nerve to call himself a taxi driver, would ask us for instructions at every single meeting of roads, junction or turning, all along the way. He quite simply knew nothing at all of the geography of Singapore.

Finally, as we neared our destination, my wife said: "Just turn left at Jurong JC."

"JC? I don't know what JC is." he said, in utter mystification.

My wife and I looked at each other. There is something you should know at this point. Only Singaporeans are allowed to drive Singaporean taxis. That means that all were born here, educated here and grew up here. As you have no doubt noticed, JC is the abbreviation for Junior College (which we first asked him for). So, even if he had been a foreigner - which he couldn't possibly be - he should have known what JC was. Yet, he was a native. He had been through the school system - yet he had managed to do so, without knowing the names of the schools.

I grew really uncomfortable then. Was our driver senile? He didn't look old enough to be, being in his fifties at my best guess. Or was he just lying about his lack of knowledge? Was his "I don't know where I am going", just a ruse to ensure that, on average, he always travelled a longer route than otherwise, because his passengers would tend not to have the best route knowledge?

In a way, I rather hoped it was a ruse - for I find it incredible that someone of so little mental competence, as not even to know the most basic things about the society he grew up in - not its geography and not the names of its institutions - could actually be allowed behind the wheel of a taxi.

Was he truly that mentally incompetent? If so, he shouldn't be driving - and a system that can allow such a driver on the road, is seriously flawed. Clearly, there is no real training of these drivers. It is not infrequent to step into a cab driven by someone who hasn't got a clue where he is going. That should never happen. No-one should be allowed to drive until they know their way around.

In London, where I grew up, the cab drivers prided themselves on The Knowledge - an examination in the routing between all destinations in London. All cab drivers had to pass this test. As a result, I never had the experience, in London, of being driven by a taxi driver who didn't know where he was going. Yet, in Singapore, I have that experience several times a week. Singaporean drivers simply don't know Singapore. Furthermore, those that do, often use that knowledge of best routes, to avoid them and give the passenger the longest, most expensive route possible (at least they do to me, a Caucasian). It is truly a disgrace to the nation. Yet, instead of addressing the issue of useless, incompetent and dishonest drivers - what are the authorities going to do? They are going to raise the price of taxis again. That is the second time in a year.

Before they raise prices, they should first take off the roads all the dishonest drivers - and all the incompetent drivers. All new drivers should be exhaustively trained in the ways and byways of Singapore. Then, and only then, should they even begin to consider raising the price. They should remember that it is called a taxi SERVICE - and attend to the service part, first.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The Amazing Super Moths of Singapore.

This morning, my wife and I took a taxi together.

The first thing we did on entering was to open the windows - on both sides. Why, you might wonder? Well, there was this overpowering smell...no... stench is a better word - of napthalene - otherwise known as moth balls. There wasn't just a hint of moth ball in there - it was as if the whole car had been made of the stuff.

Curiously, the taxi driver was oblivious to the chemical aroma in his cab. He stared straight ahead while we reached for the windows, and virtually wretched as we did so. Indeed by the end of the journey, despite the windows being open, Syahidah was complaining of feeling unwell, owing to the smell.

Now, many a driver is proud of his car and wishes to preserve it from harm. So you might feel that while you may not agree with the extent of his moth protection, you might agree with his intent and understand his concern.

That's all very well - there is just one odd thing about all this. The entire interior of his car was plastic. There was nothing there for a moth to eat.

So, the first thing I observed on entering the taxi, was the appalling smell of moth balls. The second thing I noticed was that there was nothing for the moths to eat - inside the plastic cab interior.

Thus, the third thought I had was that our driver couldn't be completely alright in the head. Eccentricities come in various shapes and sizes - but I had never seen anyone prepare so fully for the eventuality that his car might suddenly change into something edible for moths (well, moth larvae, anyway) - and then get eaten.

That is one taxi journey neither of us shall ever forget.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

SMRT an unfair taxi fare

This is a post for Singaporeans or those who are to visit Singapore.

Like many who live in Singapore, I not infrequently take a taxi. They are often more convenient than other forms of transport and, because they don't stop at regular intervals throughout a journey, like buses or trains (the MRT), they tend to be quicker. Yet, sometimes they don't seem so good.

A few days ago, I booked a cab. My wife made the call and, seeing that there was just no way on Earth that the cab would arrive before 9.30 am, we thought that we would avoid the penal surcharges that are levied for a booking before 9.30 am. For those who are unaware, the standard starting rate for a taxi in Singapore is $2.50. However, if you book a taxi in the morning, there will be surcharges amounting to another $6.00 making the starting rate $8.50. This comprises a "peak rate" of $2 and a booking fee of $4.00. So, it is more than three times more expensive to take a taxi before 9.30 am, if you book, than if you wait until after 9.30 and don't book. At least the starting rate is that much more expensive.

We got into the cab at 9.39 am - well after the watershed of 9.30 am - and journeyed to our destination. I was rather surprised then, when we arrived, to see the "booking fee" of $4.00 added to my bill.

"Why are you charging me this when your cab didn't arrive until 9.39 am?" I read this time from the receipt.

"Ah, that one is the taxi company: they charge you from the time you book."

He pointed at the time on the booking record: 9.27 am.

Great. So, because my wife picked the phone up at 9.27 am we were charged as if we were travelling at that time.

So, in Singapore it is not the time you travel that determines the charges - it is the time you decide to travel that really counts!

Unless it doesn't bother you to be charged three times as much for the same journey, I would suggest waiting until after 9.30 am to make that call - unless you cannot help it. (Though there is a surcharge for calling after that time, too - though less).

I tried to point out the illogicality of charging a customer a rate for a time not travelled at to "customer service" - but they weren't having anything of it. He mumbled about having to charge that rate "otherwise we have no business...ah".

It is funny really - but the customer service rep justified the charge - and its timing - by saying that his company needed to make money out of the customers. He seemed to be supporting the idea that a company should do what it can to exploit its customers if it gets the chance. I nearly laughed - but instead I put the phone down. It was much more satisfying.

Now, I don't normally complain about poor service or exploitation of the customer, here, simply because there is just so much of it. So I generally "suffer in silence" - it is just that that morning I was so surprised to be charged a surcharge for a time I hadn't actually travelled, that I actually picked up the phone and complained: not, of course, that it did any good.

Yet, it was interesting to learn that, here at least, poor behaviour on the part of a company, is justifiable by its employees because of the desire to make as much money from the customer as possible. I wonder how many other companies around the world, providing a public service, like transportation, would publicly espouse that view?

I had this experience with an SMRT taxi. I don't know if the ruling applies to bookings with Comfort or Citicab or Premiere or any of the smaller firms - but I would not be surprised, since they don't really compete with each other, but tend to move in unison, in the market.

The conclusion from this is that you should not book a taxi in Singapore during the peak period - if you want to travel later than that period - because you will be treated as a peak period traveller, from the point of view of the booking surcharges, no matter what time you subsequently travel.

Happy journeying, all.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan hails a taxi

Tiarnan is eleven months old. Just after the fireworks display at Marina, we had walked to an area of the city that was not blocked to traffic, where we could get transport home. We had booked two taxis for our party - but Tiarnan couldn't have known that.

Our first taxi was already there when we arrived and so half our party went away in it. The other half included myself, Tiarnan, Ainan, Fintan and my wife. We dutifully waited by the side of the road, for our taxi.

Tiarnan evaluated the situation and, on seeing many taxis in the road passing us by, in the slothful queues of traffic, he raised his arm, waved at them and called: "Taxi! Taxi!" It was sweet to hear his little voice, piercing the night air. I very much doubt that even the most attentive taxi driver would have heard it, but that he called so, was significant enough: the moment made the waiting all the more tolerable. When ignored by the taxis, he continued to hail them and call out. I have a photo of it but am having trouble uploading it: I may have to buy a new cable, so it could be a couple of days or more before it is uploaded.

Our cab never came - so Tiarnan's action proved a wise one: we had to hail a cab to get home.

(If you would like to read more about Tiarnan and his gifted brothers, including Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and one month, a scientific child prodigy, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)