Mr Taxi

I have travelled countless times on taxi, mainly due to work and overtime. In the process, I have also made many small talks with the taxi drivers, having great wonderful chats and "gossips", and even arguments. There was even one that argued all the way from town to the extreme north of Singapore with me, for he simply could not agree with me in a gracious God who would pardon anyone who would come to Him through His Son, whether how much wrong that person has done in life, even murderers, etc. I believed I must have said a silent prayer in my heart that someday somehow his heart will be touched by this wonderful truth, rather than fighting over it.

Anyway, the above was not what I intend to write on, just a small sidetrack, but I want to focus on one of the most impressionable Mr Taxi Driver I met. Pondering on this, I have not met anyone as "memorable" as him before, not that his appearance or his cab were extra special, in fact, I could not even recall his face and what cab I took, was it comfort, or Citicab, or etc?

I was on my way home from site, on a cab, in the evening hours, when I looked out of the window, I was overwhelmed by the beautiful, bright golden clouds in the sky at the sunset hour, that I actually exclaimed and said to myself "wow! so beautiful!", or something to that effect. That was when the small talk between me and Mr Taxi began. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I finally met a very positive and "no complaining" taxi driver. For once, this was a delightful change to end my busy day at work.

Mr Taxi mentioned to me that before he was a taxi driver, he used to travelled a lot to many countries for his work, and he would have to bring along instant noodles to those places, as they were not really that developed. Having visited so many, he realised how beautiful our country is (for oversea readers, this is Singapore for your information), convenience right at your doorstep, and everything so clean and beautiful. And indeed we are so green, you can hardly find a place where there isn't a single tree. Mark my words, I have been to great cities, where you can hardly find one healthy tree at times. Perhaps, we all have been living in such a beautiful environment for so long, we have become numbed to it or rather take things for granted, believing that it is our rightful rights to have and enjoy such environment, not until you travel, would you know how different our dwellings are!

For that half hour in the cab, Mr Taxi made me realise how blessed I am, to be in this place where I am. The fact that we can just leave bags on table (of course there should not be much valuables inside) and coming back a few minutes later, to still find them (most of the time) is itself quite "spectacular"! And to my utter amazement, perhaps Singapore would also be the only country that people actually reserve seats at foodcourt with tissue paper packs, anyway this is just a sidetrack and deserve a whole new article on its own! I am thankful, whenever I remembered this little chat I had with Mr Taxi, thanks for opening my eyes to see how blessed I am!