It’s the people who offer us a helping hand in our time of need that make the world a better place. Like this one netizen who encountered a kind taxi driver when he was down and out.
Recounting the story from 2002 on the Singapore Taxi Driver Facebook group page, Paul Chua revealed that the experience was one that changed the way his perspective of the world, and of cabbies in particular.
Back then, his career “hit a setback” when he was in his mid-30s, and he ended up unemployed for eight months, despite sending out “hundreds of resumes” to companies.
One day, after meeting a friend at Toh Tuck Road, Chua missed the last bus home. With only $6.60 in his wallet, he mulled over his choices — lay down his pride and ask his friend to loan him money, walk all the way home to Tampines, or take a taxi back.
Even though he didn’t have enough cash with him, he decided to grab a cab to help him chase after the last bus and/or drop him off after the fare hit $6.60, whichever came first.
“I felt ashamed because of my esteem,” Chua reminisced. “I dared not [look] at the TD as I thought he might [laugh] at me. Imagine a grown up with less than $10.”
But to his surprise, when the fare hit $6.60 and the bus was nowhere in sight, the cabbie still continued driving him home. Explaining that he empathized with Chua’s plight, the driver said that he too had been unemployed for six months before he started working as a cabbie. He then offered Chua a free ride home.
“Touched beyond words”, Chua thanked him and left, his feelings teetering between shame and gratitude. Although he didn’t see the man’s face or take down his license plate number, Chua still remembers what the cabbie did.
Over the years of his own taxi driving, Chua ended the post with a call for people to “think good”, “speak good”, and “do good”.
