I was hence forced into a deeply difficult position. Becoming jobless at my age is perhaps the worst nightmare that can happen to any ordinary man, not to mention the loss of life-long career. Ever since I was informed of their decision sometime in 2007, when the economy was still booming, I had been trying hard to find a job. I had submitted countless CV and application letters to various places in Singapore including universities, government agencies, and private companies. Most of them, however, never responded. A couple of replies I did receive never materialized into anything positive. Later, the outburst of financial crisis world wide helped extinguish my last hope of finding a job anytime soon. By November 2008, I finally made a decision to become a taxi driver.
At the time like this, the taxi business is probably the only business in Singapore that still actively recruits people. I signed up for a training course run by a government-linked transport company in November, with a course fee of nearly $280. On paper, the Express Taxi Driver’s Vocational License Course, or TDVL, is supposed to run six days a week, five hours a day. But in reality, the daily course never lasted longer than 3 hours. The whole purpose of the course was to help you pass the test and get the license. It was divided into five sections, Rules and regulations, Routes and landmarks, Names and locations of buildings, Defensive driving, and General paper, which included subjects such as highway codes, vehicle maintenance, healthy living, etc. The instructors were either veteran taxi drivers or representatives from government agencies such as Land Transport Authority (LTA).
My class started on 1st of December, 2008, which consisted of more than 30 people. There were three classes running at the same time and all were about this size. The course was very easy. Every day, the instructors told us what to highlight on the manual and asked us to memorize them because these were the materials that were going to be tested. As long as you did that, it was impossible to fail the test. Even if you fail, you still have one year to take an unrestricted number of retest. With such ease, no wonder there are nearly 100,000 people possessing taxi driver’s license today in Singapore, almost 3 for every 100 Singapore citizens, children and infants included.
By the end of February this year, I finally received my taxi driver’s license, and thus began my new taxi driver’s career. This blog records some of the events that I have experienced as a taxi driver. They are all actual events and are presented as truthfully as possible. Special precautions have been taken to avoid revealing any specific information which may help in any way the identification of the persons described in these events. The purpose of this blog is to provide readers with the first hand accounts of my experience of converting from a veteran scientist to a rookie taxi driver in today’s Singapore. The views and encounters described in this blog may be insignificant, isolated, or biased. Nevertheless, I am sure some readers will find this blog interesting and helpful in widening their general perspectives on Singapore.
Finally, I want to thank my family for their trust and support, and for always being at my side to endure with me the trauma, the distress and the anxiety caused by my job loss. I also want to thank all of my customers, especially the ones who have shown their grace, kindness, and understanding to me when I made mistakes during my work. They are the important factor to encourage me to carry on.
曾在新加坡科研局任首席研究员 博士失业改行驾的士
二零零九年八月十九日 晚上八时七分（新加坡19日讯）博士失业，改行驾的士。
一名男子在博客中透露，他拥有美国斯坦福大学博士学位，曾在新加坡科技研究局（A*STAR）担任首席研究员，自去年5月份合约被终止后，就一直找不到工作，于是决定转行当的士司机。
自称蔡明杰(译音，Cai Ming Jie）的博士，在今年4月6日，以“一个新加坡的士司机的日记”为题目，开始在网上写博客。
他说，他可能是世界上唯一拥有斯坦福大学博士学位的的士司机。
他声称，他在新加坡科技研究局的分子与生物细胞研究院(Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology，IMCB）担任16年的首席研究员，可是却在事业颠峰期离开研究工作，过后因为种种原因找不到合适的工作。
他声称，他是在2007年接到通知，指他的应聘合约将在2008年5月份被终止。他说，他被逼入窘境，因为这个年龄突然失业，是一场最糟的恶梦。
“我一直很努力找工作，寄出无数份履历，包括本地大学、政府机构和私营公司，大多数都石沉大海，只有少数回应，可是却没有结果。”
经济萧条，令他更难找到工作。去年11月，也就是离职半年后，他决定当的士司机。
他去年12月份报读的士司机课程，今年2月份，终于取得执照。
他在博客中也感谢家人的支持和信任，不断在他身边鼓励他，让他有推动力继续下去。
著名作词人小寒眼中 他是幽默的科研导师
新加坡著名作词人小寒说，改行当的士司机博士，是她念大学二年级的科研导师。
小寒在接受记者电访时说，她念大二时，在A*STAR实习时的科研导师，是A*STAR研究小组的总组长蔡明杰。
“蔡博士原籍中国，目前已入籍新加坡。在我的印象中，他斯斯文文，长得蛮帅的，一头白发，就是那种温文尔雅的书生型男士。他发表过不少对学术界很有贡献的文章，并且在酵母的抗癌蛋白研究上有很大的国际贡献。”
她表示，蔡博士能在博客上用幽默的笔调苦中作乐，她读后却哭了。
能屈能伸精神可嘉 网民大赞蜕变能力
不少网民大赞蔡博士能屈能伸，精神可嘉，劝他不要放弃希望，要乐观面对人生。
据记者浏览发现，许多网民都认为蔡博士在网上分享他驾的士的经验很难得。有不少网友甚至希望搭到他的的士，听他诉说他的经历。
有人甚至提议他改行当补习老师。
“以你的学历和经验，为什么不试试看教书或者当补习老师？”
一名自称是“博士”同僚的男子看到他的博客后，感慨万千，不过仍然鼓励他说，科学家永远有蜕变的能力，并且很佩服他大胆的决定，祝福他好运。
研究员是否被续约 是取决于几个因素
A*Star发言人说，研究员是否会被续约，是取决于几个因素，包括研究员花多少时间训练博士生、研究员的表现，以及他在研究院和总体的贡献。
发言人说，蔡博士的工作和A*Star其他研究员一样，是由科学咨询总会（Scientific Advisory Board,SAB）评估的，也是它们建议终止蔡博士的合约。
他说，分子与生物细胞研究院（IMCB）也让另外3名独立的专家鉴定蔡博士的工作表现，他们都支持科学咨询总会的决定不续蔡博士的合约。
他说，他们给予蔡博士一年的时间，提供建议和援助，让他另寻出路。
蔡博士证实是SMRT旗下的的士司机。
据了解，在网上发表博客的蔡博士是SMRT的的士司机，SMRT受询时证实这点。
不过当记者要求访问蔡博士时，他通过SMRT婉拒：“我要说的已经在博客上说了……”
写博客大谈乘客百态 申诉研究院不尊重科学家
被研究机构裁退后，改行当的士司机的蔡明杰博士还写博客大谈乘客百态，大受欢迎。
本地最近爆红的博客写手是蔡明杰博士（译音）。他说，自己曾是本地分子与生物细胞研究院（IMCB）的研究人员，去年5月被裁退，11月当上SMRT的的士司机。
SMRT受询时证实，蔡博士的确是他们旗下的司机，但蔡博士不愿受访，只说：“要说的，我都写在博客了，如果要问，你们应该去问研究院。”
他在博客上说，研究院原本的工作环境十分舒服，但最近换了新的一批领导人，他们不尊重科学家，也没有领导经验。领导层裁退了许多研究员，其中最早被裁掉的几个人当中，就包括他这个“建国老臣”。
研究院属于新加坡科技研究局（A＊Star）监管。
发言人受询时说，所有研究员会不会被续约，都必须取决于好几个因素，包括：他们对博士生的训练、表现、对研究院的贡献等等。
发言人说，建议解雇蔡博士的其实是指定的科学咨询委员会，而且，另3名独立专家审查后，也同意他不应该被续约。
他说，研究院给了蔡博士一整年的时间，以及不少资料与帮助，来找其他工作。
蔡博士却称，他一直找不到其他工作，为了养家，觉得加入“新加坡唯一还在积极招募人员的行业”就是的士司机。
他在今年4月开始写博客，谈他遇到的乘客，其中包括：流莺、变性人、外国人等，他的博客文章受到许多人瞩目。
他在博客上说，本月底他的的士约满后，他会暂时专注于写作，之后再继续开的士。
