Mr. Taxi Driver

Taxi drivers are really amazing. They are the drivers of Singapore, literally, the eyes and ears of the people. They are constantly seeing, listening, sharing about Singapore and its progress.

Today while coming back home from University I waited half an hour in vain for a taxi driver. I was so frustrated that I kinda walked on the road frontwards and backwards as much as Imma asked me whether I was planning to end my life.

[The second time of the day someone asked me whether I was - first time was when I showed Nigel my seventh-storey SR Block photo shot, and he asked me whether I was having any funny ideas when I went up there. Ur, hurhurhur. ]

Anyway when a taxi finally came along I put on a long face and stepped into the car. I was panicking, because of MEP and Chinese (which I don't give a shit about) that was being held tomorrow. The only reason why I'm blogging now is because I finished learning already.

The taxi driver soon realises that I'm a part-time NUS student and a RI student (after questioning about the badge and the uniform, and the venue he picked me up at). Then he realises that I'm a music student and I'm a piano major. We soon engage in a lively discussion about instruments (even though I was tired, and at first I was just trying to sorta sleep).


Then the question hit while we were reaching Bukit Panjang.

"What makes a good musician?"

Never has anyone (much less a taxi driver) asked me that except on the Internet, but someone asking me right in my face about 'what makes a good musician" was serious business. I was at a lost for some time, trying to put together all my thoughts and all my guts. To give my best shot at this question that I hardly ponder about.

Was I a good musician?

Well I proceeded to tell him that a good musician must be a good communicator, to be able to communicate with everyone around him to produce good music. So basically humans are good musicians (what a stupid way to avoid the question) - and then I used a philosophically-fallacied question by saying that no animals were musicians - only humans were capable of it(which I know is false to quite a degree).

But Mr. Taxi Driver said there's no such thing as a good musician. But there's such a thing called good music - and all good music comes from Mother Nature herself.

Well for most of the conversation he was talking about Mother Nature and the Chinese instrument (which I think is non-existent) called Guqin. Is there such an instrument? Please help me check if you're free.

Ok, Mr. Taxi Driver was partly/wholly avoiding the question, but his talk about all good music coming from Mother Nature is partly/wholly true also.

I managed to counter him back by saying humans were all part of Mother Nature, but he told me that he didn't mean that. He meant the rustling of leaves when they fall, the sound of rain when it hits the ground, the insects, the birds and everything.

Well, it's true. Look at what Messien did. Look at what Beethoven did. Look at what Mozart did. All walks in the parks and collecting and researching. Mozart, talking to people around him, making joy, music.

Yadayadayadayada. Point of the day is, Mr Taxi Driver is awesome.

When the trip ended, he wished me good luck and all the success possible in life, looking deep into my jaded eyes. Freaking rhyme not intended. And I bid him good-bye after that, profusely thanking him lorh. But after that I was pretty inspired again. I'll keep in mind about what he said.