It's not the money

My taxi driver took out his mobile phone as I boarded.  And after he ascertained my destination, he made a call which was picked up by an answering machine.  So for the next 15 mins I was not able to chit chat with him as the music was intermittently interrupted with "Thank you for calling XXX taxi company.  Please hold and we'll be with you shortly."


I was a little disturbed that he would allow himself to be put on hold for so long -- and extremely disturbed that this taxi company would allow one of their drivers to be kept on hold for so long. Until a chirpy voice spoke "Thank you for calling, may I have your vehicle number please."

And as I listened, I heard the driver tell the call operator his vehicle details and that a passenger had left a laptop bag with a laptop inside in his vehicle.  To keep it safe, he had actually put it in the front seat.  


It immediately struck me that our taxi drivers are so honest!  I remember a recent report that a taxi driver returned almost S$1m that was found in his vehicle.  My heart warmed up knowing that there are good taxi drivers.

As he hung up the phone I said "Uncle, I am so encouraged to know that you are an honest man."  And the driver responded "Aiyo, so troublesome you know.  After the passenger alighted and I discovered the bag, I drove back to look for her and cannot find her.  Still kenna caught in a jam.  Tomorrow go return the bag waste time some more.  Aiya, but it's the right thing to do, or she will be so worried."


A million things raced through my mind and I thought, the taxi company should reward him, compensate him for loss of earnings etc....then I realised it's not the money, it's not the rewards -- but it's the right thing to do.  And that's true honesty, without any expectations.

Thank you for the lesson today My Taxi Driver.  

And if you ever need the Lost and Found number -- it's 1800 225 5582 or if you're calling from overseas, it's +65 6225 5582.

I'm late! I'm late! I'm late I'm late I'm late!

It's a Saturday morning and where I live there's hardly any taxis.  And I was desperate because I needed to get to a conference by 9:30 AM and I hate to be late (do I hear my friends laughing?  I tend to be late for friendly appointments).

Well.  My taxi driver must have detected my frantic tone and he said "Miss, I can get you there safely but I cannot promise you to speed ah.  Saturday morning traffic should be easy, but you cannot pass your responsibility of being on time to me."

Wow!  words of wisdom 

"you cannot pass your responsibility of being on time to me."

how many of us would board a taxi and tell the taxi driver "I'm late, please hurry." and the driver now bears the responsibility of getting us there fastest while taking the brunt of blame when we are late?

Let's be kind to our taxi drivers and exercise self-discipline and personal responsibility.

My Bus Driver

My bus driver taught me a very dear lesson when I was about 14 years old.  As my parents were not well-to-do, I started giving tuition to earn extra pocket money for incidentals of Secondary school life.

I was really happy the evening I received my first two S$50 note!  S$100 is quite a princely sum.  I walked over to the "mamak shop" and bought myself an ice-cream and the shop keeper gave me my S$49 change.

I walked home that night as it was only two bus-stop away and I was enjoying my ice-cream.

My mum starts work at 7 AM as she works as a hotel chambermaid and wakes me up as she leaves so I have time to prepare for school.  As I was leaving our flat, I couldn't find my wallet!  Oh no!  My bus-pass, IC and more importantly -- my S$99 were in the wallet!  I'm quite muddle-headed and tend to misplace things, but the pang of loss was intensely felt that morning. 

And I left for school with a heavy heart thinking about the cost of replacement of lost documents, and I couldn't bear to make my parents bear additional and unnecessary cost.

When I came home in the afternoon, I bumped into a neighbour and he asked if I lost my wallet, I said "Yes!" and he said a bus driver came by our home to return my wallet, since no one was home he said he'll come by in the evening!
And he came back.  My dad offered him a reward but he said "No need, just greet me at the bus interchange whenever you see me."

That lesson reinforced what my parents and my teacher has been teaching about honesty and integrity.  And from then onwards, I would return wallets/purses that I pick up.

>>>end of this story<<<<


We were on a holiday in Nice, France back in 2000 and went for an evening walk before dinner.  As we were crossing the road from our hotel to the seaside, I noticed a wallet on the floor.  Instinctively, I picked it up.  There were lose change and notes in the wallet, a scrap piece of paper with name and phone number and no other ID.  So I held onto the wallet, planning to return to the hotel and ask for assistance to locate the owner.

We had a good hour of walk, as we returned to the hotel we decided to stop by a fruit shop to buy some fruits.  We picked out what we wanted and I walked in to pay.  The total was a small sum and I didn't have small change, immediately I thought about the lose change in the wallet I found, but decided very quickly it doesn't belong to me.  So I apologized to the shop keeper that I don't have small change.

At that moment, a teenager behind the cashier's counter pointed to the small wallet in my hand, and I shook my head -- trying to tell her I don't have small change and this wallet doesn't belong to me.  Then the lady spoke to her in French and turned to me and asked me if I found the wallet.  To which I nodded and she smiled and said the wallet belongs to the teenager!

I was thinking WOW!!!  imagine I didn't learn the lesson from my bus driver, and my conscience didn't prick me.  I would have tried to pay with somebody else's money and be caught!  (blush).

It always pay to be honest and truthful.  And I will always remember the lesson from My Bus Driver.

 
 

Honk Honk -- let's exercise some graciousness

Sometime ago, my taxi driver was at a slip road when a car tried to cut into the lane in front of the car ahead.  And the car ahead honked at the one trying to cut in and inched forward.  Hehe, not unusual right?  =)

So my taxi driver started to say "Singapore drivers should be more gracious, you let people go both parties also feel good.  You honk at people and don't let them go, you also not shiok right?"

And I said "Yes uncle, you made a very good point.  When we feel good we also feel happier."

My taxi driver laughed and said "Do you know that our highway code specifies how and when we can use our horn and that we cannot honk near schools and hospitals?"

107. Sounding your horn when driving is unnecessary, except as a warning. In some areas it is on offence to use the horn, except to avoid an accident. You should not sound your horn near a hospital, except in an emergency.

And that got stuck with me, reinforced by my family (especially my dad) who don't use the horn unless it is necessary to warn other road users.


I was bringing my mum to the hospital for her check-up.  As the basement carpark was full, i had to park a distance from the clinic.  So I stopped by the roadside marked with double yellow line and waited for my mum to get off the car to minimise her walking.

As she put her walking stick out, a vehicle behind sounded the horn.  So I walked to the car behind and said "Excuse me, I would like to remind you that the horn should not be sounded in the vicinity of the hospital."

And the lady replied "And you shouldn't stop here." and when she saw my mum getting off the car unsteadily, she said "and I didn't know that you are alighting someone.  You didn't see me when I high-beamed you, so I have no choice but to honk."

The sun's so bright -- no I didn't see her high beam.  So I walked back to the car and snapped a picture of her license plate number.  Ha!  Volvo for life.