You got to love Singapore.
It was revealed yesterday in Today newspaper that assaults on cab drivers are on the rise.
Whilst I perfectly understand the need to plonk one on their heads every now and then, especially the cab driver who wears a cowboy hat and boots and goes "yee-hah" each time he overtakes (truly, I did not make this up), it is generally a bad idea to do so, especially when they are driving. Trust me, they do not need any help getting into accidents.
So what is the solution in curbing these attacks? In Australia, they raised penalties for assault on taxi drivers, as well as installing protective shields and cameras in the vehicles.
In London since the 70s, they've had protective screens shielding the driver from the passengers, as they do in New York.
But not us.
Our Uniquely Singaporean solution? Have a campaign.
Because protective screens are aesthetically ugly and "we want our drivers to be approachable, interactive and provide a service to the passengers", said Smart Taxi's general manager Niki Ong.
Yes siree. We have our priorities right over here in the Lion City.
After all, campaigns have worked so well in Singapore in the past, haven't they?
Let's take a look at past campaigns.
Stop At 2 campaign - a campaign to tell Singaporeans to stop having babies after their second one. This was so successful that Singaporeans not only stopped having three or more babies, they stopped having babies altogether. The evolution of this campaign went something like this: Stop At 2 ----> Stop At 1 ----> Stopped by Condom (which is basically where we are at now).
Courtesy campaign - who can forget that jingle ... courtesy is for free, courtesy is for you and me ... look at what a courteous nation we've become. Every lunch time, people are leaving tissue packs at Lau Pa Sat and other food centres so that the less fortunate who can't afford to wipe their mouths after food can get it free. It warms my heart.
Speak Mandarin campaign - never mind that most of my friends can't speak Mandarin to save their mothers' lives, they are in the minority. Just visit Dragonfly any day of the week to see how successful this campaign has been.
Anti-Drink Driving campaign - don't be fooled by Traffic Police's report that drink driving arrests are on the rise. This does not mean that the campaign didn't work, it just means that law enforcement has gotten better. Truly.
By past evidence, the Stop Hitting Cab Drivers campaign is the right direction for us to take to lower assault incidents. Right here, on this blog, I am going to do my part for campaign.
So to all five of you reading this blog (I'm trying to stay positive here), stop hitting cab drivers, pretty please.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
i only hit the cabbies on their rear bits when i drive. but not so often cos my bumper is very expensive. maybe with the new campaign i wont feel the urge to nudge the cab so much. or it could also be that i have no more money for new bumpers.
Post a Comment