My Take | Hong Kong taxi drivers should not pick and choose

We must never condone violence, especially when it's against our hard-working taxi drivers. Still, I can't say I felt a wellspring of sympathy for the driver who was allegedly assaulted by former deputy secretary for housing Andrew Wells after he refused to take Wells on a trip across the harbour.

The alleged confrontation took place in Central before midnight on Tuesday because the taxi driver refused to take Wells and his wife to Kowloon. The driver claimed to be injured. Wells was arrested but later released unconditionally.

Wells was initially accused of kicking the back of the taxi and assaulting the driver. "He was accused of grabbing the neck of the taxi driver with his hand before he left with his wife," a police source was quoted as saying.

The taxi driver gave chase, stopped Wells and called the police. He subsequently decided not to pursue the case.

While I have yet to have a physical altercation with a taxi driver, I must say I often have the urge to do so. How many times recently have you flagged down a taxi, only to be rudely asked where you want to go and then refused service?

During the Occupy protests, taxi drivers across the city started routinely to select passengers by demanding to know their destination first. Some insisted on extra payment to go to supposedly hard-to-reach places. All this is, of course, illegal, but has been going on for a long time in select traffic hubs such as those in Wan Chai and Mong Kok, especially late at night. Tourists have been most commonly targeted.