The Taxi Man's Story by Catherine Lim

Very good,Madam.Sure,will take you there in plenty good time for your meeting,Madam.This way better,less
traffic,less car jams.Half hour should make it,Madam,so not to worry.

What is it you say,Madam?Yes,yes,ha,ha,been taximan for twenty years now,Madam.Long time ago,Singapore not
like this–so crowded so busy.Last time more peaceful,not so much taximen,or so much cars and buses.

Yes,Madam,can make a living.So so.What to do.Must work hard if wants to success in Singapore.People like us,no
education,no capital for business,we must sweat to earn money for wife and children.

Yes.Madam,quite big family–eight children,six sons,two daughters.Big family!Ha!ha!No good,Madam.In those

Lucky for me,all my children big now.Four of my sons working–one a businessman,two clerks,one a teacher in
Primary school,one in National Service,one still schooling,in Secondary Two.My eldest daughter,she is twenty
plus,stay at home,help the mother.No,not married yet–very shy,and her health not so good,but a good,obedient
girl.My other girl–Oh,Madam!very hard for father when daughter is no good and go against her parents.Very sad,like
punishment from God Today,young people not like us when we are young.We obey.Our parents say don’t do this,we
never do.Otherwise,the cane.My father cane me,I was big enough to be married,and still,got caning.My father he was
very strict,and that is good thing for parents to be strict.If not,young boys and girls become very useless.Do not want
to study,but run away,and go to night clubsand take drugs and make love.You agreewith me.Madam?Today,young
people they are very trouble to their parents.Madam,you see this young people over there,outside the coffee-
house?See what I mean,Madam?They are only schoolboys and schoolgirls,but they act like big shots,spending
money,smoking,waering latest fashion,and making love.Ah Madam,I know,I know!As taximan,I know them and their
habits.Madam,you are a teacher,you say?You know or not that young schoolgirls,fifteen,sixteen years old,they go to
school in the morning in their uniforms and then after school,they don’t go home,they have clothes in their
schoolbag,and they go to public lavatory or hotel and change into these clothes,and they put make-up on their
face.Their parents never know.They tell their Mum got school meeting,got sports and games,this,that,but they really
come out and play the fool.Ah,Madam,I see yuo surprise,but I know,I know all their tricks.I take them about in my
taxi.They usual is wait in bowling alley or coffee house or hotel,and they walk up,and friend,friend,the European and
American tourists,and this is how they make fun and also extra money.Madam,you believe or not when I tell you how
much money they got?I say!Last night,Madam,this young girl,very pretty and made-up,and wear sexy dress,she told
me take her to Orchid Mansions–this place famous,Madam,fourth floor flat–and she open her purse to pay me,and I
say!all American notes–ten dollar notes all,and she pull one out and say keep change!as she has no time
already.Madam,I tell you this,every month,I got more money from these young girls and their American and
European boyfriends in my taxi,more than I get from other people who bargain and say don’t want go by meter and
wait even for ten cents change.Phui!!Some of them really make me mad.But these young girls and their boyfriends
don’t bargain,they just pay,pay,and they make love in taxi so much they don’t know if you go round and round and
charge them by meter!I tell you,Madam,some of them don’t care how much they spend on taxi.It is like this:after
1p.m. taxi fare double,and I prefer working this time,because naturally,much more money.I go and wait outside Elroy
Hotel or Tung Court or Orchid Mansions,and such enough,Madam,will have plenty business.Last Saturday,Madam,no
joking,on one day alone I make nearly one hundred and fifty dollars!Some of it for services.Some of tourists don’t
know where,so I tell them and take them there,and that’s extra money.Ah Madam,if I tell you all,no end to the
story.But I will tell you this,Madam.If you have young daughter and she say Mummy I got meeting today in school
and will not come home,you must not say,Yes,yes,but you must go and ask her where and why and who,and you find
out.Today young people not to trust,like young people in many years ago.Oh,Madam,I tell you because I myself have
a daughter–oh,Madam,a daughter I love very much,and she is so good and study hard.And I see her report cards and
her teacher write’Good work’and ‘Excellent’so on,so on.Oh,Madam,she my favourite child,and I ask her what she
want to be after left school,and she says go to University.None of my other children could go to University,but this
one,she is very smart and intelligent–no boasting,Madam–her teachers write ‘Good’and ‘Excellent’,and so on,so on,in
her report cards.She study at home,and help the mother,but sometimes a little lazy,and she say teacher want her to
go back to school to do extra work,extra coaching,in her weak subject,which is maths,Madam.So I let her stay back
in school and day after day she come home in evening,then she do her studies and go to sleep.Then one day,oh
Madam,it make me so angry even now–one day,I in my taxi driving,driving along and hey!I see a girl looking like my
Lay Choo,with other girls and some Europeans outside a coffee-house but I think,it cannot be Lay Choo,how
can,Lay Choo is in school,and this girl is all dressed up and make-up,and very bold in her behaviour,and this is not
like my daughter at all.Then they go inside the coffee-house,and my heart is very,very–how you describe
it,Madam,My heart is very ‘susah hati’and I say to myself,I will watch that Lay Choo and see her monkey tricks.The
very next day she is there again I stop my taxi,Madam,and I am so angry.I rush up to this wicked daughter and I catch
her by the shoulders and neck,and slap her and she scream,but I don’t care.Then I drag her to my taxi and drive all
the way home,and at home I thrash the stupid food and I beat her and slap her till like hell.My wife and some
neighbours they pull me away,and I think if they not pull me away,I sure to kill that girl.I lock her up in her room for
three days,and I ashamed to tell her teacher,so I just tell the teacher that Lay Choo is sick,so please to excuse
her.Oh,Madam,how you feel in my place?Make herself so cheap,when her father drive taxi all day to save money for
her University.What is it,Madam?Yes,yes,everything okay now,thank you.She cannot leave the house except to go to
school,and I tell her mother always check,check in everything she do,and her friends–what sort of people they
are…What,Madam?Oh,so sorry,Madam,cannot wait for you to finish your meeting.Must go off,please to excuse me.In
a hurry,Madam.Must go off to Hotel Elroy–there plenty people to pick up.So very sorry,Madam,and thank you very
much.
'The Taximan's Story' - Catherine Lim

Published in "Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore" in 1978, 'The Taximan's Story' is a short story written by Catherine
Lim and it is a first-person narrative written in the form of a monologue. Centred on the taxi driver, he is the main
character and the story is told from his perspective.

'The Taximan's Story' depicts the problems and observations of a taxi driver, revealed to us as he engages his
passenger in conversation. However, we're only shown the taxi driver's part of the exchange and not the passenger's.
As the story progresses, he begins to share more and it develops from his personal background ("my father cane me,
I was big enough to be married, and still, got caning") to his experiences in driving the taxi ("as taximan, I know them
and their habits") and climaxes when he reveals the problem he has with his daughter ("I rush up to this wicked
daughter and I catch her by the shoulders and neck and slap her and she scream, but I don't care"). The story ends
with him dropping off the passenger at her destination, before saying that he "must go off to Hotel Elroy" where
"there [are] plenty [of] young people to pick up". It leaves us at this point where the taxi man ironically is profiting
off the youth who are behaving in the way that he has condemned his daughter for.

'The Taximan's Story' highlights several concerns that the Singaporeans of those days faced. One of the most striking
themes in the story is the conflict between tradition and modernity.

To the taximan (the narrator in the story), tradition in Singapore is losing its place as progress is made and the
country begins to embrace modernity. The narrator laments that the young people today are "not like [them] when
[they were] young", implying that the current generation is somewhat lacking and inferior in terms of morals. This
is further emphasised by how he claims that "[his] parents say [do not] do this, [and they] never do" - in essence, the
taxi driver believes that the youngsters in his generation are more filial, more obedient, and more morally upright.

His tone is disdainful and dismissive throughout the story as well. His repeated lexical choice of contrasting words
such as "today" versus "ago" in his monologue shows that the taximan is very aware of the changing times, where he
can compare between one time period and another. In fact, after many instances of "today" comes the taximan's
comments on the younger generation - they are less than their forebearers.

Tradition versus modernity is particularly interesting to us because it is an issue very much still relevant today, even
though we may be dealing with different traditions than those of that time. The struggle to embrace both our roots
together with progress has brought about this conflict, and while many of us are still trying to find a balance, it is
inevitable that change has very much deterred us from being able to find an equilibrium for them.

An Interview with Catherine Lim

In an effort to have a more wholesome understanding of 'The Taximan's Story', we emailed Catherine Lim to request
for an interview, which she graciously granted. The interview is reproduced in full below.

1. What was the inspiration of Taximan, and how much of Taximan was inspired by your own experiences? Little Ironies:
Stories of Singapore seem to suggest that it may be drawn from personal stories.

It wasn't a single, specific incident that had inspired my story. Rather, the taximan in the story was a composite of
the many interesting taximen I had met, who made each trip very pleasant by their readiness to chat, gossip,
exchange views. I suppose that's the way taxi drivers relieve the tedium of their many hours on the road! They would
tell me about difficult passengers, kindly passengers, their personal, family problems, their members of parliament
who were very/not at all helpful, etc.
2. What is the significance of the lexical choices that you have made with regards to Singlish and its various nuances?

I don't think I made any conscious, deliberate lexical choices. All I was aware of was that, for the taximan's story
about his errant daughter to come across most authentically, I simply had to make it a first-person narrative, using
exactly the kind of Singlish that most of them spoke. Indeed, it seemed to me that as I was writing the story, the
taximan's actual words, tone, inflections were ringing in my ears, and all I had to do was to transcribe them!

3. Do you think the themes and observations touched on in Taximan (tradition v modernity, morality, etc) are still
relevant in Singapore today?

Yes, the theme of tradition vs modernity pervades my short stories in 'Little Ironies'. Although the book was first
published nearly 30 years ago, the theme is still relevant in modern day Singapore, although, of course, the way it is
manifested has changed. For instance, parents today probably do not have the kind of control that the taximan had,
since their offspring are far more educated, sophisticated and articulate, but the generational gap, since it is rooted
deep in psychology and biology, will always be around. The various ways by which it can be bridged are far more
complex than the simplistic device of imposing a curfew on the errant child. Indeed, I've had taximen today telling
me that their teenaged sons and daughters often out-talk and out-argue them! It almost pains me to see the elderly
resignedly, sighingly deferring to the young, as I believe that while traditional forms of behaviour (such as the
parental cane) should be a thing of the past, traditional values such as respect for the elderly, family unity, self-
discipline, hard work, etc. should be a permanent part of our lives.

4. It has been a while since Taximan has been written and published. With the luxury of retrospect, would you have
changed any part of the story, or written it differently?

No, I wouldn't have changed any part of the story - or any story in 'Little Ironies' - simply because it was forged,
warts and all, from a single stream of creative energy, so that to change a part would affect the whole, and cause the
story to lose its cohesiveness.

5. What is your opinion on the state of the Singaporean literature scene (poems, plays, etc) right now, and how has your
personal experience with it been? How is it different from the past 20 years or so?

I have to admit that I've not been following the development of Singapore literature over the years, as I seem to be
too busy catching up with other things (including a self-study program of those sciences and humanities which I had
completely missed out on, in my school and university years). But I must say that I'm very glad that there are now
many more novelists, short story writers, poets and playwrights than there ever were in my time. The literary scene
in Singapore is definitely alive and well!

6. What is the most important thing you would want someone to take away from your story, and what was the greatest
takeaway you had while writing this story?

The most important thing for a reader to take away from 'The Taximan's Story', or any other short story, is
enjoyment. Regardless of whatever else the reader may have gleaned, such as a new insight into human nature or
some moral theme, I would like him/her to say 'Hey, I enjoyed that story!' or even better, 'I couldn't stop till I came
to the end.'