AFTER being assaulted by two men last year for confronting them about cheating him on the fare, cabby K.
Boey now does not stop for ?dubious? characters.

If he makes less that day, so be it.

He had picked up the pair at 3am and dropped them off along Balestier Road. They paid the $7.50 fare with a
$50 note folded in a red packet - a note which he soon saw had a quarter of it torn off.

He ran after them to ask for his fare. The men shouted vulgarities at him, threatened to wreck his cab, and punched him on the face and body.

The police arrived and made the men pay him. They then advised Mr Boey to make a full report at the
police station.

At the station, he was advised to file a magistrate's complaint, which got his assailants nothing more than a warning.

Unsatisfied, he has sought other avenues of redress, such as by going to his Member of Parliament.

The frustrated man said: "Is Singapore no longer safe"? Does this mean you can go around punching people if you like? We are just trying to do our job here."  

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Sep 6, 2008.