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UE Paper 3 Section E Task 1 |
I’m writing in response to the letter written
by an Australian visitor, Mr. Paula Smith, which publicized on the North Point
Post on 4th October.
Mr. Smith claimed that he met a dishonest taxi
driver when he was visiting Hong Kong. The diver refused to take him to the
destination because of traffic congestions and near the end of his shift;
instead, the driver took him to the nearest MTR station so that he could get to
the destination. When the taxi got near the MTR station, the driver refused to
let he out by saying that there was a restricted area; therefore he had to be
driven on another 100 meters and then walk back. Last but not the least, Mr.
Smith said that the driver was smoking throughout the journey, and he wanted to
know if there were rights for both sides.
For every taxi driver in any country, it is no
doubt that he or she has to take the passengers to the destination they want.
Therefore, I would say the driver in this case is not taking his responsibility
in a right way. But one point I want to emphasis is that taxi driver has to
obey the normal regulations that apply to all car-drivers, thus I think there
is a misconception on the driver taking Mr. Smith another 100 meters. I’ve
found two articles publicized in the North Point Post on 4th and 6th
October, reporting two cases concerning taxi drivers save one’s life and return
back an Australian visitor’s bag respectively, therefore I don’t think there
are no honest and helpful taxi drivers in Hong Kong.
Actually there are cases of successful
prosecutions of taxi-drivers. A taxi driver was fined for refusing to give a
tourist a ride, and another four taxi-drivers were also fined for permitting
extra passengers to enter a taxi without first hirer’s consent. Therefore next
time if Mr. Smith got another unpleasant treatment, he can take down the
driver’s personal information (such as license number) shown on the identity
card, which placed on the front of the dashboard. He can then report the case
to police so that the police can have further investigation.
I think unpleasant drivers are just occupy a
minority part in the whole taxi industry, and I hope Mr. Smith can visit Hong
Kong again so that he would have a good impression on Hong Kong taxi drivers.