I Died on Orchard Road—While Waiting for a Cab

By Raymond Chuang
“Bye, bye we’re not taking you,” said the cabbie. A Deputy President of the Security Council who wishes only to be known as “Danny” was having some chicken and beef in a food court when the rain started to pour down. It took about 30 minutes for the rain to stop, and another hour before he could sit comfortably in a Singaporean cab.Recalling his previous THIMUN-Singapore trip, Security Council Delegates of the United Kingdom Etienne Ma and Hanson Gu stated that they were “two hours late for curfew [because] of the lack of taxis during [a lineup that lasted] an hour. They eventually decided to take a bus. Etienne, however, was grateful for his advisors’ understanding of the situation; the day happened to be “some Singaporean holiday for kids”; taxis were even less available than usual, and the delegates returned to their hotel unpunished. While the locals may already be inured to half, one, or even two-hour waits at taxi stands, many who live in countries where taxicabs might pull over at the sight of an outstretched hand (whether indicating a yawn or sneeze) suffer the inconvenience of the merciless sedans, which habitually bear on their roofs the signs “Hired,” “On Call,” or “Changing Shifts.” What then, exactly, can we do in these moments of frustration, exasperation, and outright rage? A number of local Singaporean delegates have proposed some invaluable solutions. “You have to either go to a hotel where the lines are not that long, or a taxi stand—getting [a taxi] off the street is impossible,” exclaimed Jennifer Ching, International School of Singapore’s (ISS) Delegate of Mexico for ECOSOC. She enthusiastically gave more invaluable advice by cautioning us “not [to] go to Takashimaya because the lines are usually 50 meters long…” Although most delegates would be grateful for Jennifer’s fantastic advice, press reporter Raymond Chuang almost cried when the interviewee stated that the Mandarin Hotel is a good spot to wait for taxis (Raymond’s advisors had recently punished him for breaking curfew after waiting for a taxi outside of the Mandarin for two hours). Taking in the reporter’s expression of pure horror, she instead suggested the taxi stand at Cineleisure (a fantastic Orchard Road spot near the Mandarin and HMV that has a cinema, large game zone, shopping mall, hawker food, and “tons of [other] things”). Jennifer also addresses a common mistake that newcomers make: “Do not switch locations every five minutes because you’ll never get a cab… If you stay and be patient, you’ll [usually] get one in around half an hour, but if you switch locations, it will take a couple of hours.”Under exceptionally unfortunate circumstances, however, delegates may have to resort to booking a cab. Bookings from 0730 to 0930 and 1700-2300 on Mondays to Fridays cost an extra S$4.00; all other times cost an extra $2.50, and bookings 30 minutes in advance will cost you an extra S$5.20. Don’t jump up in glee at the thought of quick cab-waiting just yet, taxi corporations are sometimes too busy to respond to your calls.In a last attempt to rescue you from the tortures of waiting for two hours, ISS Delegate of Lithuania Gini Sponzilli advises students to take buses if they are more “used to Singapore” and have enough time to “organize on a wider schedule.”Hopefully, you can now take a stroll on Orchard Road and enjoy the Christmas lights, sipping your Starbuck’s with less fear of breaking curfew. For those of you staying near or right on Orchard Road, appreciate the privilege. For those of you who lodge far, far away from the Singapore hot spots, good luck.