i inaugurated my bike today!.. we were watchin telly at 1am and ben casually suggested riding down to orchard past newton, maybe grab a bite along the way or somethin.. i was game so we took our bikes down for a spin.. the trip lasted about 40 mins to and fro.. didnt eat at newton in the end cos newtons past-midnight surcharge is outrageous.. had a drink at the nearby shell station instead.. wanted to exit from heeren and go down the orchard stretch to lido back to newton but ben insisted we not lest we bump into friends on this friday night ( we were in silly yellow outfits you see).. anyway the feel of the bike is so smooth.. and the suspensions very sensitive.. a good ride indeed..
what struck me most during our excursion out during the wee hours of the morning was the number of taxis on the roads at this ungodly hour.. most of which were empty.. rows and rows waiting their turn to pick up passengers at the newton taxi stand.. even along novena there were already long queues of not people but taxis.. it seems that the competition in the taxi industry is unbelievably bad..
many of these cabbies are middle aged men in their 40s who probably have a family of teenagers and a wife to support.. struggling to earn their keep, it is not surprising that some of them even have a day job in addition to being a night cabbie.. some cabbies were so tired that they were catching naps while waiting for passengers to approach..
this reminded me of an instance when i spoke to a cabbie on the way home late at night.. he mentioned that there are so many taxis on the road today its extremely difficult to earn a decent keep.. they take back roughly $1000 a month after deducting taxes and sorts.. many need not fill in income tax forms due to the simple fact that they dont earn enough.. this is a difficult situation if you have mouths to feed..
i know ive been a bastard on more than one count.. guilty of cursing at cabbies who are aggressive and reckless when im driving.. but looking deeper i kinda have a silent respect for these men who sacrifice their sleep so that you and i reach home safely at night