Singapore – A video of a taxi uncle engaged in a heated argument with a passenger then commenting he is “so stressed and bullied by passengers that he wants to commit suicide” has gone viral online.
On Sunday (Sept 20), Facebook page All Singapore Stuff uploaded a video contributed by a reader with the caption, “Another Filipino vs Sinkie: Taxi uncle claim maid bully him make him want to commit suicide.”
The 3:46-minute video consists of a back and forth argument between the passenger and the driver on which direction to go. It appears as if the uncle did not know how to get to their destination, yet apparently, the passenger directing him where to go angered him further.
“You say you tell me, where you tell me,” said the uncle. The passenger said to keep going in the same direction.
“You told me what. You tell me what. You don’t spoil my day, okay,” the uncle replied. “I’m going to die, okay.”
“Now, where is 32? Turn right, turn left, go straight,” said the uncle. “I told you, you just keep going,” replied the passenger.
“Go straight again…my God…(speaks in Cantonese) I really…I commit suicide now, you know. Life is very, very…really every day I bully by passenger, you know.”
“I never bully you…I just told you what is the way,” said the woman.
Eventually, he began mentioning he was going to make a police report. The uncle also tried confirming in Cantonese with the other passenger that the woman was bullying him.
“He don’t know what he’s saying,” said the woman. At an intersection, the uncle asked exasperatedly, “Now where?! Left or right?! Okay, okay, okay, now turn left or right you must tell me!”
The dialogue that followed:
Woman: But if I tell you, if I teach you, you are angry, mah. This is the way.
Uncle: Where is this place?
Woman (in a distressed tone): It is, this is the way…Uncle, but you are very rude. You don’t have the right to shout at me like this, you know.
Uncle: You don’t have the right to bully me!
Woman: Stop it! I didn’t bully you.
Uncle: Okay, I’m going to make a police report.
When asked where do they stop, the woman replied to stop at that spot. “We stop here now. This is the way. I told you.”
“I am going to make a police report,” said the uncle. “You go, I will come and face you,” replied the passenger. “I will make a police report,” repeated the uncle.
The woman confirmed that she got a recording of the conversation. “You are shouting at me. You don’t know the way. I told you,” said the woman. The uncle explained that the way she gave the directions was “bullying the uncle.”
“You bully uncle, okay. Uncle is going to die.”
“You have no evidence, said the woman in response to the alleged bullying.”
“I don’t know evidence, Ah Ma (Mom) can be evidence,” he said, referring to the other passenger.
He continued to converse in Cantonese with the older lady. “Ah Ma will be your witness,” said the uncle.
Upon stepping out, the woman said, “I’m going to report you.”
“You don’t bang my door like that okay,” the uncle could be heard repeating.
“You have no right to embarrass me and humiliate me. Because you don’t allow people to help you,” said the woman as she was assisting the older lady in exiting the taxi.
“You cannot be a driver,” was the last comment made before the video ended.
With over 51,000 views and 500 comments as of writing, the video has garnered mixed responses from the online community. Many expressed concern towards the uncle and advised him to take a break if the difficult times have caused him too much stress. “If too stress(ed) in life uncle then don’t drive…the passenger’s life is in your hands,” commented Facebook user Michelle Ee. Others suggested that passengers faced with the same situation to provide more exact directions to help such drivers find the destination.
https://www.facebook.com/1993145654159487/videos/1476074282603379/