'The Taximan's Story' - Catherine Lim

Published in "Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore" in 1978, 'The Taximan's Story' is a short story written by Catherine Lim and it is a first-person narrative written in the form of a monologue. Centred on the taxi driver, he is the main character and the story is told from his perspective.

'The Taximan's Story' depicts the problems and observations of a taxi driver, revealed to us as he engages his passenger in conversation. However, we're only shown the taxi driver's part of the exchange and not the passenger's. As the story progresses, he begins to share more and it develops from his personal background ("my father cane me, I was big enough to be married, and still, got caning") to his experiences in driving the taxi ("as taximan, I know them and their habits") and climaxes when he reveals the problem he has with his daughter ("I rush up to this wicked daughter and I catch her by the shoulders and neck and slap her and she scream, but I don't care"). The story ends with him dropping off the passenger at her destination, before saying that he "must go off to Hotel Elroy" where "there [are] plenty [of] young people to pick up". It leaves us at this point where the taxi man ironically is profiting off the youth who are behaving in the way that he has condemned his daughter for.

'The Taximan's Story' appealed to us, and we decided to explore it in more depth. Below are a few pictures and videos that we took as we tried to recreate and identify some of the scenes that are in the story.

Picture 1: Mr Lim is seen gesturing. He could be sharing some of his views with the passenger and is instinctively waving his hands to prove his point.

"Long time ago, Singapore not like this - so crowded so busy."

Picture 2: Mr Lim is again gesturing, but this time more wildly and more rapidly with his hand. He could be excited by what he is sharing with the passenger.

"But these young girls and their boyfriends don't bargain, they just pay, pay and they make love in taxi so much they don't know if you go round and round and charge them by meter!"

Picture 3: This is a photograph taken along Orchard Road near Orchard Towers, and is where Mr Lim pointed out today's equivalent to the sleazy areas of Orchard Road that existed in the past.

"I go and wait outside Elroy Hotel or Tung Court or Orchid Mansions, and sure enough, madam, will have plenty business."

Picture 4: A picture of Orchard Towers, an infamous place with a reputation not unlike the places that the taxi driver has mentioned in the story.

"Must go off to Hotel Elroy - there plenty young people to pick up."

Video 1: Mr Lim recalls his experience with some tourists from Sweden. In particular, he corrects the way that they were trying to flag down the taxi, as we do it in a different way here.

Video 2: Taking us around for a drive, Mr Lim showed us the parts of Singapore that are considered more sleazy. He also recounts his younger days and how Singapore was like back then.

'The Taximan's Story' highlights several concerns that the Singaporeans of those days faced. One of the most striking themes in the story is the conflict between tradition and modernity.

To the taximan (the narrator in the story), tradition in Singapore is losing its place as progress is made and the country begins to embrace modernity. The narrator laments that the young people today are "not like [them] when [they were] young", implying that the current generation is somewhat lacking and inferior in terms of morals. This is further emphasised by how he claims that "[his] parents say [do not] do this, [and they] never do" - in essence, the taxi driver believes that the youngsters in his generation are more filial, more obedient, and more morally upright.

His tone is disdainful and dismissive throughout the story as well. His repeated lexical choice of contrasting words such as "today" versus "ago" in his monologue shows that the taximan is very aware of the changing times, where he can compare between one time period and another. In fact, after many instances of "today" comes the taximan's comments on the younger generation - they are less than their forebearers.

Tradition versus modernity is particularly interesting to us because it is an issue very much still relevant today, even though we may be dealing with different traditions than those of that time. The struggle to embrace both our roots together with progress has brought about this conflict, and while many of us are still trying to find a balance, it is inevitable that change has very much deterred us from being able to find an equilibrium for them. 

In order to understand the story better and hopefully gain more insight to the issues highlighted, we interviewed Catherine Lim as well as Mr Patrick Lim, who is a Comfort Delgro taxidriver. They have provided us with their perspectives, and they can be found in two other separate entries.

An Interview with A Taxi Uncle

Following the interview with Catherine Lim, we asked Mr Patrick Lim, a taxi driver with Comfort Delgro, for his help for the project. We asked him to read 'The Taximan's Story' in preparation for the interview. These were the questions we asked him, in brief.

1. His background
2. His opinion on the story
3. His own observations
4. His experiences as a taxidriver

Below is the the interview:

Mr Lim agrees mostly with what he has read in 'The Taximan's Story', and proceeds to share some of his own observations. His sojourn with the story seems to have brought back some of his memories about those days - such as how he worked in the day and how he had had a few encounters similar to the one shown in the story. When asked about change in Singapore and whether the values of those days still apply, he concurs with what he has read. He reminisces fondly about some of the traditions and practices of the past, but seems to readily embrace this change that Singapore has been going through.

The interview with Mr Lim gives us a more modern context for 'The Taximan's Story'. Even though it was written decades ago, the sentiments expressed in the story are still held by more "modern" taximen. The parallel between the fictional taximan and our real taximan are many - both are middle aged Singaporean males and both have daughters and have been driving a taxi for a while. Through the course of the interview, we also can see how similar their views are. 

When we compare his input to that of Catherine Lim's, we noted that their views are congruous to each other's. Both note that there is change in Singapore; it is now different from when they were younger. The progress that Singapore has made through the years has eroded some of the traditions that were emphasised in those days, and both Catherine Lim and the taxi uncle hint at the sadness that they are now no longer as practised, especially for the value of respect for the elderly. The conflict between tradition and modernity has also been discussed, and both agree that it is an issue still relevant today. Mr Lim's observation that the change comes with progress is echoed also by Catherine Lim. Citing examples of traditions being not as stringently enforced as it was in the past, the taxi uncle suggests laughingly through a joke that some traditional values are only seen when there is a pragmatic driver behind it (such as receiving a red packet). Catherine Lim points at the same thing, as it "almost pains [her] to see the elderly resigned, sighingly deferring to the young", suggesting a practice not tolerated in the yesteryears. Tradition and modernity are still struggling to find their place in society as the country progresses tremendously through the years, although it is now manifested differently.

With the perspectives of Catherine Lim and Mr Lim, we are able to appreciate 'The Taximan's Story' better than when we first came across it. There is a deeper understanding of the concerns raised through the story, and while perhaps it should be a little worrying that they are still issues in Singapore today, we are now more aware of some of the views that the older generation may have of us. 'The Taximan's Story' grows on us a little more every time we read it, and the opportunity to explore the perspectives in the story has been extremely interesting.

An Interview with Catherine Lim

In an effort to have a more wholesome understanding of 'The Taximan's Story', we emailed Catherine Lim to request for an interview, which she graciously granted. The interview is reproduced in full below.

1. What was the inspiration of Taximan, and how much of Taximan was inspired by your own experiences? Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore seem to suggest that it may be drawn from personal stories.

It wasn't a single, specific incident that had inspired my story. Rather, the taximan in the story was a composite of the many interesting taximen I had met, who made each trip very pleasant by their readiness to chat, gossip, exchange views. I suppose that's the way taxi drivers relieve the tedium of their many hours on the road! They would tell me about difficult passengers, kindly passengers, their personal, family problems, their members of parliament who were very/not at all helpful, etc.

2. What is the significance of the lexical choices that you have made with regards to Singlish and its various nuances?

I don't think I made any conscious, deliberate lexical choices. All I was aware of was that, for the taximan's story about his errant daughter to come across most authentically, I simply had to make it a first-person narrative, using exactly the kind of Singlish that most of them spoke. Indeed, it seemed to me that as I was writing the story, the taximan's actual words, tone, inflections were ringing in my ears, and all I had to do was to transcribe them!

3. Do you think the themes and observations touched on in Taximan (tradition v modernity, morality, etc) are still relevant in Singapore today?
 

Yes, the theme of tradition vs modernity pervades my short stories in 'Little Ironies'. Although the book was first published nearly 30 years ago, the theme is still relevant in modern day Singapore, although, of course, the way it is manifested has changed. For instance, parents today probably do not have the kind of control that the taximan had, since their offspring are far more educated, sophisticated and articulate, but the generational gap, since it is rooted deep in psychology and biology, will always be around. The various ways by which it can be bridged are far more complex than the simplistic device of imposing a curfew on the errant child. Indeed, I've had taximen today telling me that their teenaged sons and daughters often out-talk and out-argue them! It almost pains me to see the elderly resignedly, sighingly deferring to the young, as I believe that while traditional forms of behaviour (such as the parental cane) should be a thing of the past, traditional values such as respect for the elderly, family unity, self-discipline, hard work, etc. should be a permanent part of our lives.

4. It has been a while since Taximan has been written and published. With the luxury of retrospect, would you have changed any part of the story, or written it differently?
 

No, I wouldn't have changed any part of the story - or any story in 'Little Ironies' - simply because it was forged, warts and all, from a single stream of creative energy, so that to change a part would affect the whole, and cause the story to lose its cohesiveness.

5. What is your opinion on the state of the Singaporean literature scene (poems, plays, etc) right now, and how has your personal experience with it been? How is it different from the past 20 years or so?

I have to admit that I've not been following the development of Singapore literature over the years, as I seem to be too busy catching up with other things (including a self-study program of those sciences and humanities which I had completely missed out on, in my school and university years). But I must say that I'm very glad that there are now many more novelists, short story writers, poets and playwrights than there ever were in my time. The literary scene in Singapore is definitely alive and well!

6. What is the most important thing you would want someone to take away from your story, and what was the greatest takeaway you had while writing this story?

The most important thing for a reader to take away from 'The Taximan's Story' , or any other short story, is enjoyment. Regardless of whatever else the reader may have gleaned, such as a new insight into human nature or some moral theme, I would like him/her to say 'Hey, I enjoyed that story!' or even better, 'I couldn't stop till I came to the end.'

Catherine Lim's responses have been invaluable in understanding the context and background of the story. One surprising nugget of knowledge from the interview that us students did not expect was that Catherine Lim made a conscious choice to embody themes of tradition and modernity throughout her book, "Little Ironies", and not just this one story. And beyond the thematic and moral takeaways, she simply wants her story to bring enjoyment to the reader. For us personally, reading 'The Taximan's Story' was interesting and enjoyable, and we hope that others who read it will enjoy or have enjoyed it as much as we did!