
Near the Raffles Hotel at the corner of North Bridge and Bras Basah Roads in Singapore, I saw this lone rickshaw operator waiting for possible clients to tour around the night sights. There were a couple of Westerners who approached and talked to him. Sadly, there were no takers. Did he go away to shift venues? No. He stayed there....waiting.
2 comments:
With the fast-moving traffic, it is dangerous to ride a rickshaw or a trishaw these days, unless they operated within a designated area. Looking at the moving lights in the photo, this does not appear to be the case.
In Malaysia, a trishaw is called a "becha". Ironically, it appears to have been adopted from Hokkien (or Fujian, a Chinese dialect). "Beh chia" in Hokkien refers to a horse-drawn carriage. Save it is powered by humans now. "Becha" is also a dying word in the Malay language because of its increasing irrelevance in the face of modern developments in transport.
I ought to see your "becha" soon, my friend....and have coffee with you, too!
Post a Comment