With the ongoing circuit breaker measures, the livelihoods of many taxi drivers and private-hire vehicle (PHV) drivers are hit hard, due to a significant drop in customers.

Most workplaces have been closed, and people have been told to work from home whenever possible, making it difficult for drivers to find passengers.

One man in Singapore, Vishal Pendharkar, has recently taken to Facebook to share an encounter he had with his Ryde driver during a booked ride on May 15.

His driver, known as Andrew, had opened up about some of the difficulties he has been facing during this period.

Has been receiving dialysis treatment for six years

His driver had shared his life story after realising that Vishal has a biomedical background.

Andrew told him that he suffers from kidney failure, requiring him to receive dialysis treatment three times a week, with each session lasting between four to five hours.

He describes the process as being "hooked to a machine", and that this was "so much time wasted lah".

His treatment has been ongoing for the last six years.

Andrew wishes to keep driving until he is bedridden

According to Vishal, Andrew loves driving, and has been driving for more than 30 years in various capacities. This includes driving school buses, trucks, vans, taxis, and private-hire companies such as Grab, Ryde and Gojek.

Andrew told him that he is "sometimes stressed" after losing more than 60 per cent of his income due to Covid-19.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he has had to work for eight to 12 hours daily to make ends meet.

Vishal also found out that Andrew has hypotension, and is occasionally in a bad mood, which usually causes customers to immediately complain about him.

Despite this, Andrew is taking the situation in his stride, saying that he "must make customer happy lah".

He even told Vishal to stay healthy and value what he has.

"Andrew wants to drive until he is bedridden. Andrew knows that dialysis is not as good as kidneys and one day he will succumb to this illness," said Vishal.

"Andrew will fight the illness as much as he can. Andrew is not afraid of death but afraid of hospital bed".

You can see Vishal's full Facebook post here:

Top image from Vishal Pendharkar/FB and Unsplash.