Do you the Singapore Government will allow foreigners to drive taxi in Singapore?.?

Question

In Singapore there are many taxis without drivers! Why?
because many Singaporean shun being a taxi driver as there better jobs available elsewhere. Also because being a taxi driver is a tough job with uncertain income.

Some Government linked taxi companies are laden with very large number of taxis that are idle assests. Faced with this situation, do you think the Government will allow foreigners to drive taxi?. If yes, don't you think that the
Government is making life even harder for the existing taxi drivers who are already having a hard time earning a decent living?

Answer 1

I don't think any foreigners would be stupid enough to come all the way here to drive a cab, when the local cabbies (most) are already finding it hard to cope with the living standards here with the income they are receiving.
However, I am seeing the possibility of Malaysians joining in the queue to be one as it is logical for them to sustain their living if they are mainly residing in JB or parts of Malaysia.

Answer 2

First of all, if you want to become a taxi driver, you should understand about the unstable income. If the government didn't want to help, the Land Transport Authority wouldn't have raised prices this year. A recent news report shows that the average cab driver can make between $1.5K to $3K a month.

And none of the companies have a high rate of unhired taxis like you claim. They must have a certain quota of cars on the road to qualify as a taxi company, and the extra cars are for if they recruit more drivers or if one of their cars has to be scrapped. Since their source of income is from people renting these taxis, there is no reason for them to keep a large number unused.

Thirdly, there are more taxis on the road now than ever - with 2 new companies joining the fray a few years back. If there were people "shunning" the jobs do you think the companies would open? Furthermore, do you know what it takes to become a taxi driver in Singapore? There is a rigorous selection that takes place, and a person has to sign up sometimes months in advance to become one, even going through several interviews sometimes.

I hope you are not Singaporean, because if you are, you are very misinformed.

Answer 3

As this question is an opinionated one, I'll give my 5 cents worth.

1. Is taxi fares raised solely to help the existing drivers?
Yes & No. Yes, because the taxi drivers enjoy an
immediate increase in their income. No, because the
taxi companies had difficulties in recruiting drivers,
therefore, they had to make driving taxi a more
attractive vocation with an increase income through
fare increase. Any job that offers a higher income
would attract more applicants. If taxi companies had
no difficulties in get drivers, then why are there almost
daily advertisements for taxi drivers with lots of
incentives offered. Also why are there frequent job
recruitment fair at shopping malls, MRT, CC. etc.?
Even "wise-one" place one here!!!!

2. In any business, wrong anticipation of market demand
is a calculated risk. Hence, excess inventories do
happen just like having excess taxi without drivers.

3. Similarly, when more taxi companies join the fray it
inadvertently creates competition for labour &
passengers.

4. I believe that any reasonably educated person with
a valid driving licence should be able to quite easily
qualified as a taxi driver in Singapore.

5. I believe too that there are many taxi drivers licence
holders who are not driving taxi for a living.

6. If it's true that getting Singaporean to drive taxi is that\
tough, should the Government allow qualified
Malaysian to fill the gap?. They have done it for other
industries with labour shortage, why not taxi driving?

I think they will do it only as a last resort. Maybe my points
are based on a "misinformed" mind.

Answer 4

I dun think i wan to be driven around town by someone who doesn't know the S'pore roads well....transports costs r high enough....no need to pay extra by going in circles....esp by someone who is unfamiliar with local road regulations...(my Little life is too precious)....

By the way, the amount of taxis idling in the "govt linked" taxi companies...is not a clear inidcation of S'porean refusing to be taxi drivers (it could be 1 possibility)....it could also mean tat:

1) there r too many taxi companies on the road...so taxi drivers can "job-hop".

2) making a decent living out of driving taxi in S'pore is impossible now, due to high costs (e.g. ERP, Fuel, Maintenance / Repairs, Insurance, taxes, rental)....so i dun think giving foreigners a chance to suffer in place of s'poreans is a good idea...

3) the rental in"govt-linked" taxi companies r too high, as compared to other taxi companies...so "why pay more??"

Hmmm...(on a personal note): when the s'pore govt says they wan "foreign talents", I dun tink "Taxi-Driver" or "Good Driving skills" is one of the talents their looking for....unless ur name is "Michael / Ralf Schumacher"...or .."Fernando Alonso"

Cheers...

P/S: marchcalf ...chill out...

Answer 5

citycab:
to apply for a Taxi Driver's Vocational Licence, you must:
be a Singapore Citizen
be at least 30 years old
possess a qualified class 3 driving licence
have at least 1 year driving experience with a clean driving record
be able to speak simple English
be able to speak your mother tongue

For enquiries, please contact us at:

Telephone [phone]
6450 1637
6450 1652
6450 1634
6450 1635
Email [e-mail]

comfort:
Application Criteria
To apply for the TVL, you must meet the following criteria:
be a Singapore citizen
be at least 30 years old
possess a qualified class 3 driving licence
have at least one year driving experience with a clean driving record
be able to speak English
be able to speak your mother tongue

SMRT Team Taxi
A generous cash incentive reward scheme for you to earn more money even when you are not on the road
Walk in or call us to find out more.
Visit us at the following locations:
SMRT Headquarters, 251 North Bridge Road (near City Hall MRT Station) Mon-Fri, 10.30am to 7.30pm
Novena MRT Station Mon-Fri, 10.30am to 7.30pm
SMRT Taxis Customer Service Centre Mon-Fri, 8:30am to 5.00pm
Recruitment Hotline: [phone] Mon-Fri, 8:30am to 6.00pm
Terms & Conditions apply for all the above benefits stated.

Answer 6

yes

Answer 7

should allow