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Letters | Who cares about Hong Kong’s taxi drivers?
- We worry about being infected by our drivers during the pandemic, but few may have considered the risks they take to earn a living
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Hong Kong citizens tend to take taxi drivers for granted. Few are aware of the hard lives they lead.
Taxi drivers have a contract to rent the vehicles, there are no welfare packages or guarantees of protection attached. These are very meagre terms of employment indeed! Their income is low and unstable, especially for those working the night shift. During the pandemic, even with reduced taxi rents and six months of government wage subsidies, they can hardly make ends meet. Compared to bus and minibus drivers, the job of a taxi driver is really undesirable. That is why few youngsters wish to join the trade.
Each taxi driver carries one or more passengers in a small enclosed space inside his or her vehicle. As passengers, we worry about being infected by our drivers during the pandemic, but have we ever considered the risks they take should any of their passengers be virus carriers?
There are times when taxi drivers become the epicentre of complaints in town. When people are unhappy, they can simply vent their frustrations on them. Some complaints are justified but most are not. Taxi drivers are rarely given the chance to explain or defend themselves. Their unions often choose to remain silent. These bosses only aim to make a profit and are hardly ever sympathetic.
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Taxi drivers who do not make enough for a living have resorted to applying for government allowances. Some have gone to mainland China for a change. Those who remain are living hand to mouth. No one is happy.
And it is not just the taxi drivers. Everyone in the job market is suffering these days. No one can tell how long the pandemic will last, but one thing is for sure – everyone is a loser at the end of the day.
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Jacqueline Kwan, Sai Ying Pun
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