Letters: Rude taxi driver

On May 15, at about 6.45 p.m., I boarded a Bluebird taxi from Jl. Syarridin with my 36-month-old son. I told the driver to take us to Pasar Raya Mall Blok M, South Jakarta.

Upon reaching our destination, I gave my son a Rp 50,000 (US$5) bank note to hand over to the driver for the Rp 36,000 taxi fare. The driver took the money and said thank you but did not give us any change back. When I queried him about the change, he grudgingly took out a ten thousand rupiah note and handed it to my son. When I asked him again about the outstanding change, he simply told me he did not have small change.

I politely told him that he should return the correct change to my son or myself as it is his responsibility to ensure that he has small change at all times. Upon hearing this, he took out a Rp 5,000 note and tossed it aggressively at my son direction and shouted "Get out!" about three times, at the top of his voice at my son and myself.

I have made an official complaint to Bluebird Group regarding the incident. An official from Bluebird Group contacted me on May 17 and briefed me the company had investigated the complaint and the driver had admitted his wrongdoings and offered an apology on behalf of Bluebird Group and the driver. Is it as simple as that?

However, I can't bring myself to accept the apology, simply because it was an aggressive act, of a violent nature, toward a very young boy. As a result of this incident, my son, who is only 2 1/2 years old, is very traumatized whenever I take him into a taxi. He remains quiet and scared whenever he is in taxi now.

Mohinder Singh
Jakarta