Why did The Star not publish my letter?

As long term readers will know, I have had quite a few letters published in Malaysian newspapers. I have raised many issues in their pages, usually on various social issues, of some kind. A few weeks ago, I sent The Star (of Malaysia), the letter below. It was never published. The question is: why? The contents are socially helpful and would, if acted on, change Malaysia, for the better. Yet, someone, at The Star, preferred silence on the issue. The letter follows:

Malaysian taxi drivers lack road knowledge.

In London, licensed taxi drivers have to pass a special exam, called The Knowledge. This involves learning 320 routes through London and the location of every single landmark and place of interest within a six mile radius of Charing Cross. A London Black Cab driver never gets lost, never fails to know the way and gets the customer to their destination every time. Malaysian drivers, however, are a rather different breed. Many of them seem to have no knowledge of Kuala Lumpur at all.

Recently, I have become accustomed to taxi drivers not being able to find their way, to a well known location, in Kuala Lumpur – even if they are parked only a couple of kilometres away. I sometimes have to ask four or five drivers, before I can find one who knows the way, even though the road I am asking them to go to, is a main one. It seems that people are starting to drive cabs, without any detailed knowledge of Kuala Lumpur’s roads. This should simply not be allowed.

Sometimes, drivers pretend to know where somewhere is, just to get the fare. However, part way into the journey, it becomes clear that the driver is lost and has no clue where to go. How can this be called a “taxi service”? If Malaysia is ever to be considered a developed country, it must have a developed transport system – and taxis are part of that.

The solution is simple. Taxi drivers in Malaysia, should have to learn, in detail, every road, every route, every landmark and place of interest, in the bounds of the city or area in which they are licensed, before they are ever allowed to drive a cab. Furthermore, if a cab driver gets lost – or pretends to be lost – they should have no right to charge the customer, for the unaccountably long journey. Were these suggestions to be implemented, Malaysia would finally have a taxi service that meets the customers’ needs. Incidentally, it would also leave a much better impression on foreign visitors, who, at present, can only conclude that there is something incompetent about Malaysia’s taxi services. Is that the impression Malaysia wants to give, to the world?

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Where is The Knowledge in a "Knowledge economy"?

"The Knowledge" is a term used to describe the detailed understanding of the streets of London that London cab drivers (taxi drivers) have. Cabbies spend sometimes years learning their way around the streets of London before they are allowed to become London cab drivers. The Knowledge involves memorizing 320 routes through London, allowing them to take the shortest route between any two points in the central London area. It covers a six mile radius around Charing Cross and takes in all theatres and public buildings. The result is that a London taxi driver knows exactly where to go to get you where you want. Sadly, this is not so in Singapore.

Singapore has something called The Ignorance. This is a system whereby all new taxi drivers are required not to have a clue where to go. This rigorous selection system ensures that no new taxi driver will be able to take you anywhere you want, without detailed instructions from the passenger. If a new taxi driver is given free rein to drive you where they want, this will inevitably involve a random tour around the island as he hopes to stumble on your location by chance. The Ignorance is the Singapore government's way of ensuring that taxi drivers can afford the daily hire charge for their cabs, by inflating the prices to all customers through unnecessarily long routes. It is a characteristically ingenious way, invented by government approved scholars, of ensuring that Singapore's competitors in South East Asia have a fair chance of catching up on Singapore's lead, by guaranteeing that no businessman will be able to get to a meeting on time, nor anyone else to their work place before it closes for business, for the day.

I encountered The Ignorance the other day, when we had to take a trip to Cable Road. Now, as every good cabby should know, Cable Road is next to the Malaysian High Commission. So, it would seem that every cab driver should know where that was. However, this was not the case. The cabbies had been well and truly trained in The Ignorance.

The first driver stopped pretty promptly, when we flagged. I take this to mean that he is desperate for cash on what must be a bad business day - since it is customary, in Singapore, for taxi drivers to drive around empty, with their blue lights on, forcing you to make a call out and pay the charges for doing so. This cabby, however, stopped. I should have known it was a bad sign.

My wife said: "Cable road", as she opened the door, just to check he knew where he was going.

He nodded, as if all knowing. He was about 200 years old, so he should have been, by now. That is another thing about Singaporean cab drivers - they seem to be the oldest in the world. The reason is simple: Singapore has no pensions and the old folk are desperate for cash. Furthermore, Singapore is a deeply ageist society and doesn't like employing anyone older than fifty or so - indeed, sometimes those retrenched in their forties find it hard to get a new job. One day, teenagers will find it hard to get a job, here. They will employ embryos only.

So, we drove off. A little down the road, however, there was something hesitant about this particular ancient driver. He looked from left to right as if he was not quite sure, not where he was, but what a road was. That was worrying.

My wife piped up: "Cable Road, uncle...Cable Road..."

"Farrer Road...Farrer Road...", he repeated, perhaps in the hope that he could change our destination to somewhere that pleased him.

"Cable Road...Cable Road...", repeated my wife.

"Cable Road? Sorry, uh?"

"Let's get out." I decided.

I had to repeat it three times before he slowed the cab to let us out.

The next driver also stopped promptly. Boy these cab drivers must be suffering.

This time, we were more wary.

"Don't get in, until he shows he knows the way." I urged my wife.

"Cable Road.", she said, to the driver, leaning into the open taxi, just enough to be heard.

"Cable Road?", he said, as if we had spoken in Martian, "There is NO Cable Road."

"Yes there is." I said, knowing that otherwise someone we knew would have a hard time explaining how they lived on it.

We shut the door and let him drive on, confident that if he didn't know about it, it couldn't exist. I found this an interesting variation on The Ignorance: the idea that if he didn't know about it, it couldn't be because he didn't know about it, but because it must not exist: how ego-preserving - and how very Singaporean.

The third driver also stopped promptly. I was getting worried.

"Cable Road.", said my wife, half-expecting its existence to be questioned.

"C-A-B-L-E R-O-A-D." he said, so slowly, it was abundantly clear that he was, momentarily at least, lost.

We waited while he processed the destination.

"Ah...yes, the Malaysian High Comm." he said, at last.

He knew where it was.

We got in.

Now, here is a question: in a country as small and simply organized as Singapore is, should it really take three taxi drivers, to find ONE who knows where the Malaysian High Commission is? (We weren't going there, but somewhere very near by).

The real puzzle of this is that a taxi driver once told me that before they are allowed to drive, they are supposed to learn where all the main hotels and embassies are, so the foreigners won't be disappointed by the drivers. Well, we were disappointed - and yet we were going to one of the destinations they are supposed to have learnt about.

It is time for Singapore to set aside The Ignorance so carefully cultivated in their drivers and replace it with something similar to The Knowledge. A country whose taxi drivers don't know where they are going, is a country that has yet, truly, to arrive in the First World.

So, the question is: does Singapore want a First World image, or a Third World image? Part of the formula to that impression lies in whether taxi drivers have a clue where they are going. Presently, many Singaporean drivers don't. That has to change.

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