LIKE FAMILY
The usual interactions among passengers, as well as between driver and passengers, on a first bus are thankfully less sombre.
The community spirit means bus captain Tan Kok Peng, also from Tower Transit, doubles up as an alarm clock for his regular passengers. The 52-year-old also drives the first bus of Service 143, starting at 5.30am on weekdays, although his journey starts from Toa Payoh bus interchange instead.
Mr Tan, who has been plying the bus 143 route for 16 years, said his passengers are “relaxed and assured” that he will wake them up if they doze off.
“Since we’re the first bus, we know their regular schedule. Sometimes before we even reach the stop, we will alert them. Like if they don’t come down, you know they’ve fallen asleep,” he said in Mandarin.
Mr Tan’s regulars tend to reward him with goodies, particularly during Chinese New Year. He admits not knowing how to reject such goodwill, and has even had passengers ask to visit his home in Johor Bahru, Malaysia during the festive season.
“A Malay auntie once asked me for my number … She used to sell curry puffs and would give me two whenever she took my bus daily,” he recalled. “She would give me hongbao (red packet) whether it’s on Chinese New Year or Hari Raya. This type of relationship … has lasted more than 10 years.”
For Chinese New Year last year, Mr Tan received around S$900 in total from passengers.
“They ask me to keep the money, so if I don’t keep it, it’s like I don’t respect them,” he said. “Sometimes I don’t want to take it, but they will put it into my shirt pocket. And when I tell them that they’re also old and they need the money, they will say ‘No, this is for you’.
“Sometimes in one hongbao, there’s S$100. That’s a lot (of money) for the elderly.”
