Letters | Going to Singapore: filthy Hong Kong taxis and foul driving make sure this visitor isn’t coming back
Hong Kong has the worst cabs and cab drivers in the world, and I speak as someone who drove a taxi cab in America and travelled a fair bit.
On our October 22 taxi ride from the airport to Kowloon, the driver had a death wish. He drove over the speed limit all the way, threw us around the cab with his reckless driving, refused to get out of the vehicle and help with the bags (I’m 74) and still wanted a tip. It was a red cab with white top. Where are the police? He drove so fast and no cop stopped him.
The next five taxi rides were just as bad (all red taxis). None of the drivers spoke any English and had no idea about where we wanted to go, even though I had it in Chinese.
We came out of a high-end hotel in Kowloon after dinner and cabs were sitting around but refused to take us. The one that did stop had no idea where we wanted to go. The red taxi company and its drivers are giving Hong Kong a bad name. If they didn’t want Westerners and our money, they should post a sign in their cab and we will take our money elsewhere!
Next time I go on holiday, instead of visiting Hong Kong, we have decided to visit Singapore where the cab drivers are honest, drive safe, have new cabs and are not sour old men that drive old junk cabs like in Hong Kong. The government of Hong Kong should be ashamed for not regulating the taxis better.
William D. Webster, Kampot, Cambodia
