Tongues are wagging. Taxi drivers are offering their views freely to those who will listen. The recent slow-drive protest by some of the drivers over moving the pickup point at the airport provided a reference for these people to speak their minds. They say that things are not good for law-abiding drivers trying to eke out a living and stay out of trouble. They complain about criminal gangs interfering in an honest business and how things have become worse, not better, in recent years. They are jaded about politicians and officials, whom they see as useless in fighting obvious abuse.
During a ride last week, the driver complained that some passengers expect a 20 per cent discount because of the ongoing practice by some who offer reductions on longer journeys, including airport rides.
The driver recounted a story of a passenger who told him the destination and then said she would pay 80 per cent of the fare shown on the meter. He wanted the full fare, because that is the whole point of having fares set by means of a meter.
On several recent occasions, drivers have complained to me about practices at many hotels. They said that, for airport rides, an independent cabbie would often lose out to those affiliated to groups that have relationships with the doormen.
Another complaint was that the airport could not deal with taxi management because of alleged triad activities. One driver said that if he wanted to do airport rides, he would need to pay the triads a monthly 'fee' for the privilege; otherwise, he would have to queue for a very long time for the journey back to town from Chek Lap Kok.
All the complainants ended their lament by blaming the government and police for not doing their job. They spoke about their frustration in the face of such lawlessness.
A man in his 60s said that he had been a taxi driver for decades, and things had got much worse in recent years. 'Why is our 'strong government' not using the law to fight lawlessness?' he asked. 'We have the law, but it is not followed.'
