Doctor Driver

Knowing that I'm a blog fan, dear introduced to me a unique blog belonging to a local taxi driver - Cai Mingjie, who is probably the only one in Singapore who has a pHD from Stanford and a proven track record of scientific accomplishments.

Unfortunately, he was forced out of his research job at the peak of his scientific career, and was unable to find another job citing reasons he can only describe as something "uniquely Singapore". As a result, he drives a taxi to make a living and blogs about real life stories to make his dull job a little more interesting.

Though I do not know of the reasons as to why he is still unable to get a job based on his qualifications, his attitude and willingness to be a taxi driver is applaudable. After all, taxi drivers in Singapore are not well received considering all the near accidents they have caused as well as the road recklessness that sends most motorists cursing and swearing. That said, I also acknowledge that being a taxi driver in Singapore is really arduous because unlike the normal working folks, taxi drivers do not have paid leaves, medical benefits, public holiday benefits etc. They practically have to work as long as it takes to pay off their own taxi rental, petrol costs and whatever that's left is whatever that they earn for the day. Not a fun job I would say.

So after reading MingJie's Taxi Diary, it certainly opened my eyes to the struggles of a taxi driver, as well as the funny anecdotes about the passengers that he faces each day. Do give it a read. Who knows, he might change your mindset of taxi drivers in Singapore.


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