A 44-year-old British woman who moved to Singapore with her banker husband in 2010 and became a permanent resident in 2013 is now a Uber driver. Uber which said that only 2 percent of its “tens of thousands of driver partners” are foreigners said that the Briton, Anna Gibbons, is its only driver-partner who is a Caucasian woman.
The Straits Times reported that Ms Gibbons took to being an Uber driver after her 13-year marriage ended last year. Her husband had an affair and has since remarried. The woman has 2 children, a 10-year-old and an 8-year-old form her marriage and is unable to relocate out of Singapore because her former husband has not given her consent to do so.
Singapore is a signatory to an international convention (Hague Convention) which is meant to offer protection from cross-border child abductions, and this prevents the woman and her children from taking off from Singapore.
Ms Gibbons ex-husband pays maintenance for the upkeep his former family, and the payment covers the rent for her family’s apartment in Pasir Ris, fees for the children’s local school and other living expenses. But Ms Gibbons took to being an Uber driver in April because she wanted to make her children’s lives a little more easier.
The 6-feet-tall Uber driver estimates that going by the number in a support group, there could be 200 expatriate women divorcees in Singapore.
One writer for this publication had earlier explained how foreigners can now officially compete with Singapore’s taxi driver. The writer said:
“Previously, only Singaporeans can drive taxi as can be seen in LTA website (https://www.lta.gov.sg/
• You must be at least 30 years old;
• You must be a Singapore Citizen holding a pink NRIC;
• You must have a valid Class 3/3A Singapore driving licence for a continuous period of at least one year at the point of application; and
• You must be able to speak and read basic English.
Now, a 20-year-old foreign work permit holder can also get into this trade.”