Taximan’s story

By: Catherine lim

A conversation of a teacher and a taxi driver talking about the awful behaviour of the youth in
the modern era. A growing trend of prostitution and rebelling youth girls from Singapore is an important
idea being discuss in the story. It shows the different experiences of the two characters about prostitution,
lack moral values, and immaturity, by which the characters are criticizing.
The lower and middle class residents in Singapore are the most affected areas in this trend due
to their low income and unable to provide the necessity to live, some young girls would risk their dignity
in order to solve their financial problem, in spite of the fact that their parents work jobs to support their
education and give them the life they can give to their daughter. But in reality, the income of the parent
may not be enough to be able to provide their daily needs, which results to young girls getting introduce
in world of sexual working at very young age.
As both characters talk their experiences in the misbehaviour of the modern day teenager.
Both are affected by the attitude that the kids are showing. The driver despite his anger to his daughter for
engaging in some malicious activities, he benefits from this young girls in his work and gains more
money in them than the average Singaporean commuter, while the teacher might be worried for the
potential decrease of educational attainment of the youth.
In 2005, DPA reported the there is an increasing amount of young girls in Singapore who are
offering sex for sale in the internet chatrooms, engaging in such activities without the fear of actual
possibility of getting sexually transmitted disease(STD). As the society becomes more open on
controversial things such as homosexuality, sex work, and other things that are unacceptable before, it
also influences the wrong audience. According to Sunday Times, pervasive message of one-night stands
on television and advertisement that encourage instant gratification and the lack of stigma on losing one’s
virginity are some factors that influences the youth to engage in sex work.
Prostitution also is an easy way to make money for girls. Young girls from lower and middle
class family whose parents cannot afford the things they want or need often engage in sex work to buy
things they want: mobiles phones, the trending fashion clothes, or recreational gadget. With so many
material temptation around the modern society, some girls will offer sex in order to get what they desire.
As more young girls engage in prostitution, it is very important to lessen the numbers of teen
prostitution. Encouraging parents to bond with their daughters and improving their relationship can make
parents get more involved in the daughter’s life thus, guiding her to her life choices which lessen the
possibility of her entering the sex industry. Schools can also make a great impact on battling teen
prostitution by teaching their students about self-value and moral discipline, they can also try to lessen the
tuition especially to those students who are struggling with financial crisis, but the important role into
fighting the teen prostitution is given to the government. The government can lower the teen prostitution
by restricting the regulation on prostitution, giving financial aid to the lower and middle class, advocating
the youth to join some team building and youth programs.