‘This is not the west’: SG passenger says taxi driver allegedly asked for tip after showing her an ‘open, bleeding wound’

SINGAPORE: A taxi ride took an awkward turn for one passenger after her driver allegedly showed her a bleeding wound before asking her for a tip.

The passenger shared her experience anonymously on Reddit’s r/asksg forum on Wednesday (Aug 12).

In her post, she explained that she had booked a metered taxi through Grab and was minding her own business when the driver started chatting with her halfway through the journey.

“I took off my AirPods to pretend to listen, and he decided to ramble on about how every day he helps handicapped people into his taxi and also cross the road.”

“Like, ok la, this is still fine, but then, right, he started giving this sob story about how he got ‘cut’ helping someone in a wheelchair earlier on in the day, AND THEN proceeded to literally SHOW me the open wound with literal BLOOD???? And then proceeded to literally ASK for a tip. This is not the west.”

The passenger said she had never encountered a taxi or private-hire vehicle driver who directly asked for a tip before.

She admitted she might have given him one voluntarily after hearing about his injury, but felt uncomfortable being asked for it.

For her, there was a difference between a passenger choosing to reward a driver for good service and being prompted to give money after hearing a personal story.

She said she understood that taxi drivers might not always earn well, but felt that using a sob story to encourage passengers to tip crossed a line.

To make matters worse, the driver also allegedly asked her to leave him a five-star rating so he could maintain his “top 5 taxi driver status”.

He reportedly told her that he had been among the top drivers for years and spoke at length about how he had managed to keep his taxi exceptionally clean.

“He kept on yapping about how he was the top driver for years and how he has managed to keep his taxi super clean (I mean, admittedly it was clean).”

She also claimed, “Oh, also, the fare he input into the Grab app and the actual meter had like a S$2-3 increase already. I can't be bothered to take a pic; just roughly remember the number, whatever, but is this normal? Is it normal for taxi drivers these days to ask for tips? I usually take GrabCar and not metered taxis these days, so I’m not too sure.”

“It's definitely not expected or standard practice”

Singaporean Redditors quickly chimed in, with several saying they had also never encountered a taxi driver who directly asked for a tip. 

One said, “I have been taking a cab almost every day. Not 1 driver has asked for a tip so far.”

Another shared, “He shouldn't be demanding a tip and 5* ratings. If he wasn't polite, report him to LTA and the platform.”

A third added, “I've never tipped a taxi in Singapore. It's definitely not expected or standard practice.”

Still, while most users agreed that tipping was not the norm, a few felt the driver asking for one was not necessarily a serious issue.

One told her, “If the amount is small and you can see with your own eyes that he is really injured, it's better to err on the side of generosity. I mean if you tipped him S$10, does it even make a difference in your life? Bet you don't even notice if S$10 disappeared from your bank account. If he's not injured, I might just drop a tip dollar or two.”

Another agreed, saying, “Some people enjoy talking socially, and it’s really boring driving around the entire day without a word. Maybe you look like you earn a lot more and the destinations start/end look like you’re having a good life? Or maybe you just seemed like a kind person. Hence, uncle asked for tips. We really don’t know what other people are going through in life. He didn’t share about it.”/TISG

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