“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor E. Frankl

As with most taxi drivers around the world, the taxi drivers in Singapore are mostly know-it-alls, complaining Champions (mostly about the government of course) and claim to know where all the best foods are. Most of us do not pay much attention to what they say and when I did on some occasions I have learnt how one man’s freedom of choice is prison to another.

Most of these taxi drivers were driven by circumstances. Many mature taxi drivers tend to be uneducated and took on cab driving as a means of feeding their families since it often only requires a driving license and no other qualifications. In recent years however I have noticed that there are more higher educated people both men and women driving cabs. Many have the same stories, they were laid off from their corporate jobs and could not find another within the same capacity as before. Many it seems are in their late 40s and above.

Thus, in order to feed their families they take on jobs as taxi drivers either as their sole source of income or some take it on as their part-time job in order to supplement their day jobs. Many of these types of taxi drivers see it as a blessing that they have managed to find a job that makes them income. Those that have been driving for a long time maybe up to 10 years and above tend to see driving a cab as a curse reminding them of their low income situation and their daily struggle to make ends meet.

For example on Christmas eve, I was picked up by a cab driver who is 67 years old and have been driving for the last 2 years. He said that he was in a car crash (quite disconcerting as a passenger to hear!) a few years ago and he had injured his spine and underwent 2 years’ of rehabilitation in order to regain mobility. After his rehabilitation, he went out and tried to look for work and he found to his surprise that he simply could not find another job. He was a fairly senior executive in the corporate world and he said that being out of the corporate circle for 2 years had alienated him from his professional network and said that that at that level, most senior execs find work via their network so he thought that was probably why he could not find another role. In order to make some income he decided to become a cab driver and he said he was very fortunate to have found this job because he now feels like he has found a freedom he had never experienced before. He only works at most 5 to 6 hours a day and takes every Sunday off and says he earns about $2800 to $3000, compatible to a fresh grad’s salary.

There was another driver whom I spoke to who is also very happy with his situation, he had decided to become a taxi driver because he had enough of the corporate world and he worked slightly longer hours and makes between $4500 to $5000 a month. He also said that it is possible to make a good living from driving and he found that most of the time the other drivers do not put in enough effort to keep picking up passengers and instead spend too much time hanging out at coffee shops with the other drivers so that is why they do not make enough money.

It was such a change to most of the other drivers’ stories who complained about not making enough and how difficult it is to survive. From listening to their stories I found similar patterns in their mind set: 1. They chose to see driving as a source of freedom because they work as hard as they want to make the money they want. 2. They had a sense of ownership and saw driving cabs as working for themselves and that they were in control of their lives. 3. They were smart with how they about their day, they spent little time hanging out with the other drivers and they also picked up on the trends of passengers such as where would there be more passengers at which part of the day and they drove around these areas. In essence, they were in control of how they perceived their work and they were productive and were also aware of their customers’ behaviours and worked it to their advantage.

These drivers taught me so much in those two short cab rides because they were able to see driving cabs as their freedom and not a prison.

In our own version of life, do we perceive our situation as freedom and not as a prison? If more people are able to turn their mind set around like they have, would most of us become happier? How about you? Do you see your current life as freedom or a prison? How can you turn your perception around? Share your thoughts below!