ASK Mr Lee Mong Chiang about his proudest achievement, and he points to the eight university and polytechnic graduates he has raised.
His biggest lament? That the way he raised them - through 50 years of driving a yellow-top black cab - is now facing extinction.
The vice-chairman of the Taxi Transport Association, the union of the 627 private yellow-tops left in Singapore, will surrender his licence to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in January 2008, when he turns 73.
His yellow-top will then disappear from the roads forever.
His impassioned plea: 'Save the yellow-top cabs. We are a part of Singapore's history.'
These drivers have been on the road longer than anyone else. The youngest of them started driving in 1970. They are also the only ones to have their taxi licences registered under their own names.
Nowadays, taxi licences are registered to companies like ComfortDelGro, not individuals, and in turn rented out to drivers. So, while the number of yellow, blue, silver and green taxis increases daily, these yellow-top black cabs are dying off with their owners.
Registered as a trade union in 1947, yellow-tops (known as huang ding in Mandarin) were the first taxis to cruise Singapore.
They reached a fleet peak of 3,800 in 1960, when yellow-tops were still synonymous with taxis, being the only cabs around. They had their first taste of competition in the early 1970s, after the Comfort Cooperative was set up in 1970 with 1,000 taxis.
That was when their demise began.
Around the same time, the Registry of Vehicles, LTA's predecessor, decided to change the existing policy of granting taxi licences to individuals. From then on, licence plate numbers were given only to entities.
Their application to form a company, however, was turned down, says Mr Lee.
From 1974, licences were made non-transferable. Those issued before 1966 were allowed one last transfer.
This is in contrast to taxi companies like ComfortDelGro, for example, that own a stable of licences. Drivers are interchangeable to the company: Should one retire or leave the industry, the taxi licence can be rented out to someone else.
For the yellow-tops, however, their licences are owned by individuals. Once a driver reaches 73, the licence plate number is revoked. Should the driver die before then, others are allowed to drive under his licence until his 73 years are up.
Typically, although each yellow-top licence belongs to one individual, use of the vehicle is split among as many as five drivers, who all depend on it for a living.
Land of the free
MR LEE has appealed on behalf of the association to make these remaining 627 yellow-top licences transferable to younger drivers, once the licence-holder reaches 73.
Before 1995, retiring yellow-top drivers were allowed to sell their taxi licences to other companies.
According to LTA spokesman Naleeza Ebrahim, 'this was a goodwill gesture to give some benefits to individual yellow-top taxi owners who otherwise would have no benefits when they surrendered their taxi licences at the age of 70'.
In 1991, about 1,100 retiring yellow-top drivers sold their licences to ComfortDelgro for about $10,000 apiece. Since the deregulation of taxi supply, however, taxi companies no longer have to buy taxi licences as these are granted by the LTA.
Yet, there remain 'hundreds' of people hoping to drive a yellow-top, says Mr Lee, possibly because they are the last bastion of 'freedom'. This is in stark contrast to reports of companies like SMRT with parking lots full of taxis and no one to drive them.
It is not that yellow-tops make much more than normal cabs, he says.
Despite being free of the daily rental that companies exact, they still need to pay off bank loans for their vehicles, as well as diesel, road tax and maintenance costs.
'But we have freedom. We're not controlled by the company. We're not ordered around by anyone. And if we're sick, we can choose not to drive, unlike those who work for companies who have to pay the rental every day, no matter what,' he says.
His fellow driver of over 40 years, Mr Lim Chew Nam, 58, chimes in: 'Also, we can pay off our bank loans. Those who drive for others can never pay their companies off.'
High touch, low tech
BUT despite being sought by drivers, these cabs are sometimes shunned by passengers. Age as well as wear and tear have set in for many, which look older and dustier than other cabs.
This is probably because most drivers choose to change their vehicles only when they have to every eight years - to give themselves more time to pay off bank loans. Companies like ComfortDelGro change their vehicles every five years.
Yellow-tops are also conspicuously technologically-challenged. They are not linked by satellite systems, do not offer credit card payment, do not have nifty TV screens on the back of seats.
But Mr Lee bristles at any suggestion that they are behind-the-times. They have four different radio-call networks, and a 'kampung style' communication network which works just as well, he maintains.
Despite not being linked by a satellite system, company mailing list, or designated petrol stations, he says the drivers' bond forged by friendship and decades of driving together is way stronger.
'Should a driver get a passenger who wants to go to Tampines, but he is changing shift in Choa Chu Kang, he'll call another driver he has seen nearby to come pick this guy up,' he says.
It is an informal network - minus the extra $2.50 cab call charge.
Slow, rude, antiquated
BUT the LTA begs to differ. It feels that yellow-tops are unable 'to provide taxi service at a standard our commuters expect and are now familiar with'.
Its spokesman says: 'Feedback has shown that generally, individual yellow-top taxi owners lack the capital and management skills to ensure continual service training and upgrading, the use of technology such as GPS and MDT systems.'
There is also public sentiment that yellow-tops are unable to keep up with the times.
Most drivers, due to their age, speak only a smattering of English. Passengers complain that they drive too slowly, do not offer cashless payment, and talk back. Because they are private operators, there is also no chain of accountability.
Tour guide Chang Pei Tuck, 53, a frequent taxi user, says: 'If I lose my wallet in one of their cabs, I don't know who to call.'
Not true, Mr Lee contends.
'If someone has lost his wallet in a cab, he can call the LTA, or call me directly with the licence plate number and we'll contact the driver. We have the radio call system. And the driver will turn the item in to the police, or to the LTA,' he says.
'But who bothers to take down licence plate numbers? And who would think of calling the LTA? It's too troublesome,' Mr Chang counters.
As for the other criticisms, Mr Lee has a comeback line for all of them.
'We drive slowly because we value safety,' he says. 'Would you rather lose two minutes or your life?'
As for being rude, he says that is not peculiar to yellow-top drivers.
'We have to take the same courses, and answer to the same people. If there are complaints, LTA can suspend us, or even take away our licence. There's no difference in standards,' he says, bristling.
To him, his yellow-top is a reminder of simpler times, when driving a taxi did not mean competing with 22,000 other vehicles.
'We just want to preserve this legacy. We don't want it to die out with us.'
'People make such a big fuss about a tree in Changi,' he says, referring to the 150-year old Hopea Sangal tree that was cut down by property developers in 2002, causing a furore among nature-lovers.
'What about us? We have only 627 cabs left, but these 627 cabs have fed hundreds of households.
'Thousands have relied on these cabs to survive.'
Nice article.