Driven round the bend by cabby with poor English
LAST Thursday at about 9pm, my husband, who is from England, hailed a cab from our home in Segar Road, off Bukit Panjang Ring Road, to pick me up from the renal centre near Chinese Gardens.
He told the driver in clear English to take him to Chinese Gardens and the cabby said 'Chinee Gardens'. My husband corrected him umpteen times but the cabby kept repeating 'Chinee Gardens'. When the route he took was not familiar, my husband told him he had taken the wrong way, but the cabby insisted he was right.
They ended up at Changi Gardens. My husband was frustrated and upset, paid the cabby his fare and took another cab home as he could not reach the renal centre in time. Needless to say, our night did not end well.
Singapore has emphasised the need for workers to speak Mandarin so they can communicate with Mandarin-speaking clients. How about training people to speak clear and precise English so they can communicate with English-speaking clients, who make up the majority?
This is not our only experience with non-English-speaking people in the service industry. A female server at Haagen-Dazs in Holland Village once asked us to speak Mandarin. I have no problems if people want to speak Mandarin, but please do not behave as if other languages do not matter.
Rohaya Hamid-Douglas (Mrs)
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