Taxi drivers not obnoxious

I refer to Krabbe K Piting's ill-tempered article about Jakarta taxi drivers in the Aug. 7 edition of The Jakarta Post. She describes with apparent pride her refusal to pay Rp 4,000 to a hapless driver who didn't know a Kebayoran address and then justifies her churlish behavior (which probably caused the poor fellow to lose his place in the queue) by quoting a colleague's "research" findings that nine out of ten people feel taxi drivers are "obnoxious characters".

What better example can there be of the growing separateness of many privileged Indonesians from the majority of their fellow citizens, whom they treat with contempt when it's not possible just to ignore them? Perhaps Piting (and her colleague) would have a different view if they ever took the time to talk with a taxi driver, as I've been doing for more than two decades of visiting Jakarta.

I am polite to the drivers, and they are polite to me. I ask their names, where they're from. They tell me my Bahasa Indonesia is better than it probably is. They reward me -- on almost every occasion -- with good service and great conversations. They tell me about their lives, and I learn how hard they work for so little -- money or respect.

My wife and I rode around Jakarta recently in a taxi belonging to one of the best companies -- also, according to the drivers, the best employer in the business. We talked with our driver about the economics of his life. He works from 9 a.m. to midnight, almost every day, earning commissions on fares that net out, after fuel costs, to just Rp 75,000 on average. On a really good day, with tips, that might rise to between Rp 125,000 and Rp 150,000. That's 15 hours of work for Rp 5,000 - Rp 10,000 per hour! And its with the company that pays better than the others!

Piting, do you realize how little that driver you triumphed over earns in his working day and why that piddling Rp 4,000 you refused to pay probably was very important to him? Ask yourself, please, who was obnoxious that day.

RICHARD PIGOSSI, Singapore