Singapore – A proud daughter went to Facebook to share her father’s dedication to his profession as an SBS Transit employee for 37 years. He even kept his very first ID card, showing that serving others is his passion.
“My dad proudly took out his SBS Transit employee card for past 37 years…obviously I am too young to even recognise the logo on the first card. And he is still a proud SBS driver who greets passenger who board his bus,” wrote Ms. Vicky Faith in her post.
My dad proudly took out his SBS Transit employee card for past 37 years.. obviously I am too young to even recognise the…
Posted by Vicky Faith on Sunday, 5 May 2019
The Independent Singapore was able to get in touch with Vicky who gladly shared many inspirational nuggets that she had learned from her hardworking father.
She recalled how at the age of four, her father taught her how to take Bus 8 to school and asked his bus driver friends to keep an eye on her due to his different work schedule.
“I felt safe to board the bus whenever I see the same bus uncles at the same time on the same route,” shared Vicky.
She remembered that in primary school, her father was sent to the hospital after he fainted due to exhaustion from taking extra driving jobs to make ends meet for the family. This did not stop him from continuing to work at a job that he loved.
Vicky’s father was her inspiration to work hard and stay committed to her studies, and at work.
“He likes to share with us how his day went at work and he would always be bubbly and happily tell us about his experiences serving people – including how he tackled demanding commuters,” shared Vicky dotingly.
“He showed us what passion is like through his dedication to work.”
Vicky learned many things from her father, such as, “always staying cool when someone is angry and already shouting. He told us never to retaliate when someone gets violent.”
“He showed us that kindness would bring smiles on peoples’ faces.”
It was because of her father’s love for serving others that Vicky chose to take up a hospitality programme at university. His enjoyment in the line of service had certainly rubbed off on her.
“When I graduated and started working, I always share with my dad how my day went and he would subtly advise me with “life lessons,” saying how important it is to be ethical and righteous,” said Vicky.
An example of this ethical behaviour was returning or dropping off at the lost and found any items they found at the bus, or elsewhere.
“The values my dad has were not taught at school but through his experiences going through different hardships in life.”
From “Bus Driver” to “Bus Captain”
For Vicky’s dad, being called a “Bus Captain” instead of a “Bus Driver” was a promotion. And, he was a well-loved bus captain.
In 2015, Vicky posted a passenger’s appreciation letter that had been addressed to her father, care of SBS Transit.
Vicky’s dad was sweet enough to share the most memorable part of his career — amidst all the positive feedback from commuters: when his face was enlarged and printed on an SBS bus in 2006.
Adorable.
“I have a lot of memories about him talking his work – when he started to drive the bus with the newest technology and mimicked the sound coming out from the new gadgets, when he was afraid that he will fail his eye tests, when he felt anxious about receiving complaints from commuters and get fired, when he says he looked handsome in his work outfit and asked us to take a photo with his phone and put it as his display picture (in phone and in Facebook), when he showed off the new Bus Captain vest, when he said how the company was nice to give them jackets in case they were cold, and when he shared how commuters don’t always greet him back and asked me if he should stop greeting.”
Still, he has never stopped greeting the commuters.