Days of Pa-Ong-Chia and Shared Taxis

Posted by Victor under Uncategorized
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For many an oldie, taking a taxi with only one passenger seems to be kind of waste of energy and money. Ah, but these days are very different from the past, when taking taxis were a luxury, and for many who needed taxis and could not afford to charter an entire taxi, the best they could do was to share a taxi. In those days, it was almost like unknown to all on the route the taxis would be running when one flags down a taxi. It was an adventure taking a taxi because you don’t know who is going to be your co-passenger.

I remember when I was young, now that is in 1950s, where we used to take taxis from Tanjong Pagar (Tua Beh Lor) to Sio-Po (Geylang Road). I think it was like 30 cents per person (if my memory tells me correctly). Ah, in those days, there were also diesel run Mercedes Benz Taxis.

In the 60s, there was competition with the taxis, albeit illegal ones, Pa-Ong-Chia (pirate taxi). I remember my primary school adventures when my pau-chia (the car that was to take me to school) driver would do a few rounds of picking up passengers before sending me to school.

So, each day started at 11am with the pau-chia and it would be an hour of running between the Majestic Cinema (a favourite picking up spot) and somewhere in Queenstown. I still remember going into the kampongs off Stirling Road.

While the Pa-Ong-Chia might have served its role to meet the demands of the public, it was chaotic and possibly dangerous. It was also a threat to the taxi drivers.

So, after a spate of seizures and “cheong-kong” (confiscating the Pa-Ong-Chia), the era of Pa-Ong-Chia ended.