HE WAS driving when one of his passengers grabbed him by the neck for no reason whatsoever.
The male passenger, who boarded the taxi with another man and a woman, had earlier been arguing with the woman about their destination.
Then, out of the blue, he attacked the driver.
Shocked, the cabby stopped his taxi and ran out.
But the two male passengers were unrelenting. They followed him and attacked him.
The men, who were drunk, fled the scene only when the woman called the police.
By then, the driver suffered injuries on the left side of his face, as well as his shoulder and right leg, and was given three days of medical leave.
No police report was made. The passengers eventually paid the cabby $500 as compensation.
ComfortDelgro, which provided details of the incident, said it happened a few years ago.
The company, which has the biggest fleet here, with about 15,500 taxis, said there were 34 cases of its cabbies being beaten by passengers last year .
That's almost three assaults a month.
The spotlight was thrown on cabby-passenger conflicts following MediaCorp TV host Quan Yifeng's altercation with a cabby, also from ComfortDelgro, last week.
Quan's lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan of Khattar- Wong, confirmed that the TV host and her daughter met him on Wednesday.
In some cases, cabbies have died in such conflicts. In others, the cabbies were robbed.
A ComfortDelGro spokesman said that it helps such distressed drivers with their medical claims and losses.
Rental of their taxis can also be waived.
Distress button
All of its taxis now come with a distress button which can be activated when the drivers are in danger. The customer contact centre would either call the driver to follow up or call the police.
The company can also use Global Positioning System technology to locate the distressed driver.
Mr Frankie Tan, 55, a cabby of 20 years, said he once encountered a female passenger in her early 20s who hurled vulgarities at him.
They had argued over the payment for the fare. The passenger later got her friends to join her.
Said Mr Tan: "Even though I told her that she didn't need to pay the fare, she still slammed my door so hard that my cab shook. She even got a group of her friends to come out of the pub to confront me.
"Fortunately, they just wanted to show off and didn't harm me."
He has also been threatened by passengers who "act like gangsters".
He said: "They told me that they would find me and that they would come and get me."
But he doesn't take such threats seriously.
Mr Tan said: "Most of these people are in a bad mood. They just want to find trouble."
It is not just unruly passengers that taxi drivers have to contend with.
Mr Thomas Woo, 60, said that he has encountered fare cheats 24 times over the 13 years he has been driving a taxi.
While most fare-cheats flee once they reach their destination, some have shouted and waved their fists at him.
Such aggressive passengers tend to be drunk or in a bad mood, said MrWoo.
Mr Woo said that he remains calm and does not add fuel to fire by quarrelling with the passengers.
Mr Woo said in Mandarin: "Some drivers would provoke the passengers by saying, 'Complain lah, complain lah'.
"But we are just drivers. How do we fight with the passengers? We just bear with it until the passenger gets off, then we heave a sigh of relief and move on to the next passenger."
Twice, his passengers had threatened to beat him up.
He has been robbed him twice by passengers, losing about $100 each time.
He said: "Despite the dangers, I still have to do my job so that I can take care of my family."
This article was first published in The New Paper.
The male passenger, who boarded the taxi with another man and a woman, had earlier been arguing with the woman about their destination.
Then, out of the blue, he attacked the driver.
Shocked, the cabby stopped his taxi and ran out.
But the two male passengers were unrelenting. They followed him and attacked him.
The men, who were drunk, fled the scene only when the woman called the police.
By then, the driver suffered injuries on the left side of his face, as well as his shoulder and right leg, and was given three days of medical leave.
No police report was made. The passengers eventually paid the cabby $500 as compensation.
ComfortDelgro, which provided details of the incident, said it happened a few years ago.
The company, which has the biggest fleet here, with about 15,500 taxis, said there were 34 cases of its cabbies being beaten by passengers last year .
That's almost three assaults a month.
The spotlight was thrown on cabby-passenger conflicts following MediaCorp TV host Quan Yifeng's altercation with a cabby, also from ComfortDelgro, last week.
Quan's lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan of Khattar- Wong, confirmed that the TV host and her daughter met him on Wednesday.
In some cases, cabbies have died in such conflicts. In others, the cabbies were robbed.
A ComfortDelGro spokesman said that it helps such distressed drivers with their medical claims and losses.
Rental of their taxis can also be waived.
Distress button
All of its taxis now come with a distress button which can be activated when the drivers are in danger. The customer contact centre would either call the driver to follow up or call the police.
The company can also use Global Positioning System technology to locate the distressed driver.
Mr Frankie Tan, 55, a cabby of 20 years, said he once encountered a female passenger in her early 20s who hurled vulgarities at him.
They had argued over the payment for the fare. The passenger later got her friends to join her.
Said Mr Tan: "Even though I told her that she didn't need to pay the fare, she still slammed my door so hard that my cab shook. She even got a group of her friends to come out of the pub to confront me.
"Fortunately, they just wanted to show off and didn't harm me."
He has also been threatened by passengers who "act like gangsters".
He said: "They told me that they would find me and that they would come and get me."
But he doesn't take such threats seriously.
Mr Tan said: "Most of these people are in a bad mood. They just want to find trouble."
It is not just unruly passengers that taxi drivers have to contend with.
Mr Thomas Woo, 60, said that he has encountered fare cheats 24 times over the 13 years he has been driving a taxi.
While most fare-cheats flee once they reach their destination, some have shouted and waved their fists at him.
Such aggressive passengers tend to be drunk or in a bad mood, said MrWoo.
Mr Woo said that he remains calm and does not add fuel to fire by quarrelling with the passengers.
Mr Woo said in Mandarin: "Some drivers would provoke the passengers by saying, 'Complain lah, complain lah'.
"But we are just drivers. How do we fight with the passengers? We just bear with it until the passenger gets off, then we heave a sigh of relief and move on to the next passenger."
Twice, his passengers had threatened to beat him up.
He has been robbed him twice by passengers, losing about $100 each time.
He said: "Despite the dangers, I still have to do my job so that I can take care of my family."
This article was first published in The New Paper.