A TAXI licence will be revoked if the driver is convicted of a serious offence, such as robbery and criminal intimidation.

This is to safeguard the interests of taxi passengers, said a spokesman for the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

But not all cabbies with criminal records will have their taxi licences revoked.

Said the spokesman: 'We will consider the nature of the offence in deciding whether or not to revoke the vocational licence. The treatment differs for different types of offences.

'Extremely serious offences would result in lifetime debarment from holding a vocational licence. For other less serious offences, different debarment periods apply.'

A cabby's taxi licence will also be revoked if his driving licence has been disqualified or suspended by the Traffic Police, or if he is no longer medically fit to drive a taxi.

The LTA could not give The New Paper a breakdown of the number of vocational licences revoked every year, but the spokesman said that 'of the licences revoked, the majority are due to the disqualification/suspension of the driving licence'.

To get a taxi driver's vocational licence, you must:

• be a Singapore citizen
• have held a valid Class 3 Singapore driving licence for a continuous period of at least one year
• be able to speak and read simple English
• be able to speak another official language besides English
• not have adverse records with the police and have up-to-date Medisave accounts.

When approached, The Yellow Ribbon Project secretariat said it could not comment on Mr Wong's case.

Said the spokesman: 'The change in the mindset which Singaporeans have about ex-offenders is an ongoing process.

'While the public's response to the Yellow Ribbon Project has been very encouraging, ex-offenders need to persevere and continue to demonstrate their commitment to lead crime- and drug-free lives, by securing employment and becoming contributing members of society.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 25, 2008.