Lady pays S'pore taxi driver S$100 for S$10 ride, said taxi drivers have it hard due to pandemic

A generous gesture.

Julia Yeo | May 15, 2020, 04:06 PM

The Covid-19 outbreak has disrupted plenty of livelihoods.

One of the hardest-hit is the transport sector, as most people have been telecommuting and staying at home during the eight-week circuit breaker period.

Lady pays taxi driver S$100 for nine-minute ride

As a result, many taxi drivers have seen significantly reduced profits in the last couple of months.

However, a taxi driver, Ho, had a heartwarming moment during these tough times after a customer tipped him generously for a short ride from Takashimaya Shopping Centre to Evelyn Road, reported 8World.

According to Ho, he had picked the lady up from the shopping centre in Orchard Road on May 13.

The original fee for the ride was S$10.47.

To his surprise, the lady, who appeared to be in her 50s, paid him S$100 instead, nearly 10 times the price of the ride.

He initially questioned the rider after she told him that she did not need any change, but she replied that she had observed taxi drivers going through hard times recently, and insisted that Ho kept the S$90 change.

Ho told 8World that he was extremely grateful to her, telling the lady that she made his day.

It was the first time he had received such a generous gesture, the driver added.

Business is bad, taxi driver says

Ho lamented that business has been terrible lately, as he usually only managed to pick up one customer after driving for more than an hour, with barely any customers after 6pm.

While some taxi companies such as Comfort DelGro have waived taxi rental fees for drivers during the circuit breaker period, Ho's company still requires taxi drivers to do so.

His taxi rental fees cost S$21.40 per day.

The extra tips from his generous customer will help him cover for roughly five days' worth of rental fees, he said.

Top image via Julia Yeo, Flickr