SINGAPORE: The video of a woman from Japan who said that a taxi ride was one the worst experiences she had in Singapore has gone viral recently, with many netizens siding and sympathizing with her.
The tourist behind the @crazyjapanese_ttv account on TikTok posted a video on Feb 20 (Thursday) that has since been viewed almost 160,000 times.
In it, she says that she had approached a cab at a taxi stand and described its driver as an older man. When she asked twice if she could get in, he did not answer.
@crazyjapanese_ttv I COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT HE SAID! singapore singaporetravel japanese fyp
In it, she says that she had approached a cab at a taxi stand and described its driver as an older man. When she asked twice if she could get in, he did not answer.
As she was on her way back to Japan, she had her luggage with her and had expected he would help her load these into the trunk. However, the driver simply motioned with his fingers for her to put her luggage into the vehicle by herself.
The TikTok user had no cash on her and wanted to make sure that she could pay via credit card. The driver, however, impatiently told her again to just get into his car.
According to her, the cabby loudly shouted at her.
She added that both she and her friend spoke to him in Chinese and claimed that he told her, “You guys are from China,” and implied that he had done so in a disparaging way.
She corrected him, however, and told him that she was from Japan. After that, she claimed that his attitude underwent a “180-degree” change. “This guy is so racist,” she said. “If this guy knows that I’m from Japan, he treats me like a queen.”
“One of the most stupid people in the world (are) the people who generalize,” she said, adding that all of her friends and students from China are even more polite than the Japanese.
She ended her video by saying, “I really hate those kinds of racist people.”
Her video has received more than 1,000 comments. While some commenters appeared to get offended, many affirmed her experience, saying that they too have seen rude taxi drivers in Singapore.
“They don’t even help with your stroller when you’re alone and carrying a baby. One drove off when I was walking to the boot to take the stroller, and I had to run after the cab while carrying my baby,” a woman wrote.
Another said that a cabby refused to help her with her suitcase when she was several months pregnant. One pointed out that this is especially common with cabbies who are older and not just in Singapore but in Malaysia as well.
A commenter asked her to report the driver to his company, saying that the type of behaviour he demonstrated was bad for Singapore’s reputation. /TISG
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