Rude Guy Who Verbally Abuses Singaporean Taxi Driver Gets Caught On Cam
One man's rudeness was caught on camera, and is now paying the price.
By Darian Goh — 17 Mar 2015, 05:34 PM
Being a bully has its consequences. A taxi passenger found out the hard way after a video capturing his antics were uploaded online by the taxi driver's daughter.
A video exposing a cab passenger's rude behaviour and uploaded by the taxi driver's daughter has made waves online. In the video uploaded on Faceboook, the passenger - who had booked a cab to take him from Chai Chee to Telok Ayer MRT station - could be heard raising his voice and scolding the taxi driver from the start of the journey.
In the video uploaded on Facebook, the passenger - who had booked a cab to take him from Chai Chee to Telok Ayer MRT station - could be heard raising his voice and scolding the taxi driver from the start of the journey.
In the video, the driver was told to pick up the passenger at a designated spot but when the taxi arrived, the passenger was no where to be seen
The taxi driver then called to inform of his arrival, but was later berated by the passenger for passing him by on the main road
The passenger then demanded that he reach his destination by 6.30pm sharp when the journey started at 6.14pm and it was during peak hours
The time stamp on the video said the journey started at 6.14pm on last Friday. The passenger demanded to be at his destination by 6.30pm at any cost.
Throughout the ride, the passenger complained about the way the taxi driver was driving
The taxi driver explained that he was trying to keep a safe distance but was told off by the rude passenger
When the driver increased the temperature of the air conditioner after hearing his passenger coughing throughout the journey, he was scolded for doing so without permission
The passenger also scolded the driver for raising the temperature in the taxi. Text in the video explained that the driver did that as the passenger was coughing badly - this was audible in the video.
The video went viral, and netizens quickly found details of the passenger and published them online
By Sunday, the video had attracted at least 350,000 views and thousands of comments. Kind netizens wanted to give the driver a small token for the verbal abuse he had to suffer. Outraged netizens even claimed to have found the man and revealed his details. However, the Facebook page of the man appears to have been removed and he could not be reached at the number posted.
A few hours after the video had been released, PoliteMan’s identity was revealed. Pictures of him were prominently displayed in a post I will not link. Users posted his address, handphone number and place of work in the comments section. They were applauded for it. One user posted a pseudo death threat in Chinese, “going to die already, quick die, quick die.” He was applauded too, with the only currency we know on Facebook — a hundred likes.
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However, the daughter of the taxi driver has called on the public to not publish his details online. "His family might get something from that. It's not good".
The daughter of a taxi driver, whose run-in with a verbally abusive passenger has gone viral on Facebook, has called for a measured response. "You don't have to publish his details online. His family might get something from that. It's not good," Clare said, in an interview with Class 95FM deejays Justin Ang and Vernon A on their Muttons in the Morning show on Monday (Mar 16).
She reminded the public that the video was uploaded not to shame the guy but to help people understand the problems taxi drivers face daily
Clare also said she had uploaded the video to help people understand the problems that taxi drivers face daily. "I think at the end of the day, if you put it in perspective, it's not just for my dad. It's for all the taxi drivers out there who're driving the roads every single day. It's really long hours and people don't appreciate how difficult the job is. If you just imagine driving 14 hours a day. You're supposed to be on the ball throughout the day whenever anyone wants to go to any location. And you're immediately supposed to, on the spot, figure out the best route, the fastest route and get them there safe and quick."
She added that since releasing the video, her family has been shown “tremendous support,” and that she hopes people will be kinder and more compassionate to others. She is also open to an apology from the passenger. "I hope he will give this story a happy ending by coming forward to apologise to my dad. We’ll always be happy to have dinner with him," she said.
Other Singaporeans have also rallied people to be calm and to not resort to cyberbullying
Suddenly, we had become judge, jury and executioner and we cheered each other on. His name, his picture, his occupation — it was all fair game. Call him a woman’s private parts — score 4 points. Encourage others to stalk him online — score 5 points. Question his upbringing — score 11 points. Encourage people to print out his details and paste them at his void deck to shame him — score 12 points. Goad his boss into firing him — score 18 points. Be the first to post his home address — hit the jackpot. Ding, ding, ding. Congrats.
asiancorrespondent.com
PoliteMan is guilty as sin but he doesn’t deserve to become the victim of our unbridled rage. He shouldn’t be made to live the rest of his life in fear and shame, without job security and without hope. If you weren’t a bully in school, don’t start becoming one now. Saying it’s just harmless fun whilst goading others into doing what you’re too much of a coward to do yourself is the bully’s favourite excuse. It is also the most revolting one.
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Have no doubt about this — PoliteMan will be very sorry before the day is over, but so will we if we engage in the same contemptuous behaviour that we lambast him for. If Dad is willing to forgive PoliteMan, and I believe he is, so should we. We don’t have to excuse him for what he did, but we must restrain the inner beast within us — the one baying for blood whenever we see injustice—lest it tramples upon both our cherished ideals, of justice and grace.
asiancorrespondent.com