With the rise of the Ubers and the BlaBla cars, makes me think of the old-fashioned days of the “Sapu” Taxi. They are driven by normal folks with their own private cars,  who wanted to make some cash.  They would stop by crowded bus stops to pick passengers (sapu) up to certain parts of the city center. They became such a way of life that I began to feel a sense of security of never being late for work again.

Often they have a one-fee deal going like RM2 to the city center, the system worked autonomously with supply and demand of the service. There was no need for some authority to set the price , passengers just refused the service when it was not the normal price, they are used to paying.

Those days society was way more trusting with lower crime rates, thinking back to the times when I was the last passenger in the car at night with a stranger, makes my hair stand on ends now. There were also times when the driver drove as if he was Lewis Hamilton on a race track and we were all hanging on for dear life, saying a little grateful prayer when arriving safely and a little goodbye and good luck smile to the remaining passengers.

Sometimes there would be jostling, among the passengers who were obviously pressed for time.  One must always be proactive however, when it is a driver already known – you don’t waste time bargaining the price, you would just open the door and sit down ensuring your ride to the office.

This lead to a time when the public bus did not arrive for more than an hour, I saw my familiar car from afar and got ready to jump in. With an eagle eye on the car I anticipated where it would stop and positioned myself strategically not to miss the ride. It stopped right in front of me because I planned well ahem! and without hesitation I opened the car door and jumped in , only to be shocked out of my skin that it was a private family car which had stopped at the traffic lights and were equally shocked when I jumped in. I quickly jumped out again , apologizing profusely.  When my familiar car came, I missed it because I was careful to check if it was really it and some other people had already jumped on in. Needless to say, I was late for work that day.

-The End-