A taximan's story

1. The Taximan’s Story By: Catherine Lim A Singaporean Short Story For College (World Literature) Trip
to Singapore Author StoryGame Plot Characters Setting Theme ConflictDesigned by: Friend Hayzer S.
Gregorio, John Paulo G. Ibay, Jonna Rose G. Jallores, and Miso C. Kim

2. • There are two (2) categories: Elements of Short Story and Singapore.• In each category, there are
five (5) types of question with corresponding number of points.

3. 100Multiple Choice

4. 200True or False

5. 300Identification

6. 400Enumeration

7. 500The BigQuestion

8. 3. The game master will let one (1) group at a time to choose a category and the points which they
want to earn.4. The game master will read the question and then the groups will answer that question
by blackening/shading the circle of their choice (if the question is Multiple Choice) or by simply writing
their answer in the answer sheet.5. The groups will be given a maximum time of 5 seconds to answer
the question.6. The game master will ask some group’s answer. After that, he will reveal the answer to
the given question.

9. 7. If the group answered the question correctly they will gain corresponding points to that question.8.
At the end of the game, the group who earned the highest points among the others is declared as the
winner.

10. Elements of Short StoryThis category is about the basic elements of short story

11. SingaporeThis category is about the location, important dates, national symbols, and famous
landmarks of Singapore

12. Elements of Short Story Singapore 100 Trial Question 100 200 200 300 300 400 400 500 500

13. Trial (Multiple Choice) Which is the currency of Singapore? 5 4C.Dollar 3 2D. Baht 1 Time is up!E.
PoundF.Peso

14. 100 (MULTIPLE CHOICE)Which country is to the north of

Singapore?C.AustraliaD.MalaysiaE.Philippines 5F.Indonesia 4 3 2 1 Time is up!

15. 200 (TRUE or FALSE)Singapore means “Garden City”. FALSE 5 The name Singapore is derived from
the word 4 “Singapura” or “Lion City” as legend has it when a 3Sumatran prince sighted a beast that
looked like a lion 2when he first set foot on the island in the 14 century. th 1 Time is up!

16. 300 (IDENTIFICATION)What is the capital of Singapore? SINGAPORE 5 4 3 2 1 Time is up!

17. 400 (ENUMERATION)Enumerate the four (4) official languages of Singapore. 5 Malay, English,
Chinese Malay English 4 (Mandarin), and Tamil (Mandarin) 3 2 1 Time is up!
18. 500 (The BIG Question) Which is the symbolism of the crescent on Singapore’s Flag?C.Growth of a
young country • red for brotherhood and equality;D.Islam • white for purity and virtue. 5 •crescent
moon represents aE.Hinduism young nation4 the rise. on 3 •five stars stand forF.Judaism Singapores
ideals of 2 democracy, peace, progress, 1 justice and equality. Time is up!

19. 100 (MULTIPLE CHOICE) What element is known as ‘the series of related events’?C. EpisodesD.
ChaptersE. Scenes 5D. Plot 4 3 2 1 Time is up!

20. 200 (TRUE or FALSE)Only people can be characters in a story. FALSE 5 4 3 2 1 Time is up!

21. 300 (IDENTIFICATION)If I told you: This short story takes place in a jungle on a mysterious island
sometime in the 1930s/1940s involving a strange hunter. I would be using what term? HINT: seven
letters, think of time and place 5 SETTING 4 3 2 1 Time is up!

22. 400 (ENUMERATION)What are the six basic elements of the short story? Give only four. Characters,
Setting, Plot, Point of View Characters Setting Plot 5 Conflict, Theme Conflict 4 3 2 1 Time is up!

23. 500 (The BIG Question) IDENTIFICATIONIt is the main idea or author’s opinion about life expressed in
a piece of literature. 5 THEME 4 3 2 1 Time is up!

24. The angle in which the story is told.C.Climax 5 4D.Point of View 3 2E.Screenplay 1 Time is up!

25. This is the plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved
with the unexpected intervention of some new character, ability, or object. 5 4 3A. Shoulder angel 2 1B.
Deus ex machina Time is up!C. Mystery

26. This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is
revealedC.Rising ActionD.Falling ActionE.Climax

27. These are the techniques use to create and develop

characters.C.ProtagonistD.AntagonistE.Characterization

28. Is a contrast between what is expected and what is actually happens or

exists.C.ImageryD.IronyE.Foreshadowing

29. These are words and phrases that appeal to the senses and that writers use to create pictures in
reader’s minds.A. ImageryB. ConflictC. Point of View

30. It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move.C.Red
herringD.ConflictE.Deus ex machina

31. These are hints and clues provided by the author that permit the reader to predict what might
happen later in the story.C.ForeshadowingD.Rising ActionE.Scaffolding

32. It is the angle of the narrator where he can move from character to character, event, to event,
having free access to te thoughts, feelings, and motivations of his characters and he introduces
information where when he chooses.C.ExpositionD.OmniscientE.Denouement

33. This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.C.DenouementD.Red herringE.Deus ex
machina
34. Marina Bay Sands Merlion Sri Mariamman Temple Singapore Flyer Singaporean FoodsUniversal
StudiosSingapore

35. Chicken Rice Carrot cake (chai tow kuay)Wonton or Wantan mee Chili Crab

36. Figure 1: The lion head•courage,•strength•and excellence.

37. Figure 2: Vanda Miss Joaquim• Singapore’s quest for progress• and excellence in all aspects

38. Figure 3: Singaporean Flag• red for brotherhood and equality;• white for purity and virtue.•crescent
moon represents a young nation on the rise.•five stars stand for Singapores ideals of democracy,
peace,progress, justice and equality.

39. • Real name: Catherine Lim Poh Imm• Born: 1942 in Penang, Malaysia• writer of nine collections of
short stories, five novels and a poetry book• won national and regional book prizes for her literary
contributions.• best known for her collection of short stories Little Ironies: Short Stories of Singapore
and Or Else, The Lightning God and Other Stories.

40. • Teacher, St. Andrew’s School, St. Patrick’s School• Teacher, Catholic Junior College• Project
director, Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore, Ministry of Education• Administrator,
Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore, Ministry of Education• Specialist lecturer in Socio-
linguistics and Literature, SEAMEO Regional Language Centre (RELC) Columnist, The Straits Times• Jan
1992 – : full-time professional writer

41. •first book, published in 1978 (36 yearsold)•the one that launched her on the road
toauthorhood.•17 short stories are about ordinary menand women living their ordinary lives, oftenwith
a determination that is no less thanextraordinary—the woman desperate tohave a male child to
appease her tradition-bound husband•the young student who jumps to herdeath after her poor exam
results• the knowledgeable Singlish-speaking taxidriver who makes extra money looking outfor male
tourists to take them to the city’sbrothels.

42. The Taximan’s Story Story By Catherine Lim “Little Ironies” – Stories Of Singapore

43. Take me to National University of Singapore, pleasemake it fast coz I got a meeting to attend and I
need to be there on time. Very good, Madam. Sure I will take you there In plenty good time for your
meeting, Madam. This way better, less traffic, less car jams. Half hour should make it, Madam, so not to
worry.

44. Have you been taxi man for a long time? What did you say, Madam? I said have you been taxi man
for a long time? Ha, ha, Yes, yes, I’ve been taxi man for 20 years now, Madam. A long time ago,
Singapore not like this—so crowded, so busy.Last time, more peaceful, not so much taxi men or so much
cars and buses.

45. Oh, you must been working so hard! Yes Madam, I can make a living. So, so. What do? I must work
hard if wants to success in Singapore.People like us, no read, no write, we must sweat to earn money for
wife and children.

46. Do you have a big family? Yes, Madam, quite big family—eight children, six sons, and two daughters.
Big family! Haha! No good, Madam. In those days where got Family Planning in Singapore? People born
many, many children, every year, one child is no good at all. Two children, three children, enough, stop.
Our government say stop!

47. Lucky for me, all my children big now. Four of my sons working—oneA businessman, two clerks, a
teacher in Primary School, one in National Service one still schooling. My eldest daughter, she is twenty
plus, stay at home, help the mother.

48. Is your daughter already married?No, not married yet – very shy, and her health not so good, but a
good, obedient girl. My other girl—Oh, Madam! Very hard for father when daughter is no good and go
against her parents. Very sad like punishment from God.

49. Today, young people not like us when we are young. We obey. Our parents say don’t do this, we
never do. Otherwise, the cane. My father cane me, I was big enough to be married, and still got caning.
My father he was very strict, and that is good thing for parents to be strict. If not, young boys and
girlsbecome very useless. Do not want to study, but run away, and go to night clubs and take drugs and
make love. You agree with me, Madam?

50. Yes! I absolutely agree with you.Today, young people they are very trouble to their parents. Madam,
you see this young girl over there, outside the coffee house? See what I mean, Madam? Yes . They are
only schoolboys and schoolgirls, but they act as big shots, spending money, smoking, wearing latest
fashion, and making love.Yes, that’s true. Even though you’re just a taxi man you are aware about the
behavior of the teenagers today. Ah, madam, I know! I know! As taxi man, I know them and their habits.

51. Madam, you are a teacher, you say? Yes .You know or not that young schoolgirls, fifteen, sixteen
year old,they go to school in the morning in their uniforms and then afterschool, they don’t go home,
they have clothes in their schoolbag, and they go to public lavatory or hotel and change into these
clothes, and they put make-up on their face. Their parents never know.They tell their Mom go school
meeting, got sports and games, this, that, but they really come out and play the fool. .

52. Ah, Madam, I see you surprise but I know, I know all their tricks a lot As I take them in my taxi. They
usual is wait in bowling alley or coffee house or hotel, and they walk up, and friend, theEuropean and
American tourists, and this is how they make fun and also extra money.

53. Madam, you believe or not when I tell you how much money they got? I say! Last night, Madam, this
young girl, very pretty and make-up and wear sexy dress,She told me take her to orchid mansions--this
place famous,Madam, fourth floor flat--and she open her purse to pay me,and I say! All American notes-
-ten dollar notes all, and she pull one out and say keep change! As she has no time already

54. Madam, I tell you this, every month, I got more moneyfrom these young girls and their American and
Europeanboyfriends in my taxi, more than I get from other people who bargain and say dont want go by
meter and wait even for ten cents change. Phui!!Some of them really make me mad. But theseyoung
girls and their boyfriends dont bargain, they justpay, pay, and they make love in taxi so much they dont
know if you go round and round and charge them by meter!

55. I tell you, Madam, some of them dont care how much they spend on taxi. It is like this: after 1 a.m.
taxi faredouble, and I prefer working this time, because naturally, much more money.I go and wait
outside Elroy Hotel or Tung Court or Orchid Mansions, and such enough, Madam, will have plenty
business. Last Saturday, Madam, no joking, on one day alone Imake nearly one hundred and fifty dollars!
Some of it for services. Some of tourists dont know where, so I tell them and take them there, and thats
extra money.

56. You surely know a lot of things. Ah Madam,if I tell you all,no end to the story. But I will tell you this,
Madam. If you have young daughter and she say Mummy I got meeting today inschool and will not
come home, you must not say, Yes,yes, but you must go and ask her where and why andwho, and you
find out. Today young people not to trust, like young people in many years ago.

57. Why are you telling this? Oh, Madam, I tell you because I myself have adaughter--oh, Madam, a
daughter I love very much, and she is so good and study hard.And I see her report cards and her teacher
write ‘Goodwork‘ and Excellent‘ so on, so on. Oh, Madam, she myfavorite child, and I ask her what she
want to be after left school, and she says go to University.

58. None of my other children could go toUniversity, but this one, she is very smart andintelligent--no
boasting, Madam--her teacherswrite Good‘ and Excellent, and so on, so on, in her report cards.She
study at home, and help the mother, but sometimes a little lazy, and she say teacher want her to go
back to school to do extra work, extra coaching, in her weak subject, which is math, Madam.

59. So I let her stay back in school and day after day she comehome in evening, then she do her studies
and go to sleep.Then one day, oh Madam, it make me so angry even now-- one day, I in my taxi driving,
driving along and hey! I see a girl looking like my Lay Choo, with other girls and some Europeans outside
a coffee-house but I think, it cannot beLay Choo, how can, Lay Choo is in school, and this girl is
alldressed up and make-up, and very bold in her behavior, and this is not like my daughter at all.

60. Then they go inside the coffee-house, and my heart is very,very--how you describe it, Madam, My
heart is very susah hati‘ and I say to myself, I will watch that Lay Choo and see her monkey tricks. The
very next day she is there again I stop my taxi, Madam, and I am so angry. I rush up to this wicked
daughter and I catch her by the shoulders and neck, and slap her and she scream, but I dontcare. Then I
drag her to my taxi and drive all the way home, andat home I thrash the stupid food and I beat her and
slap her tilllike hell. My wife and some neighbors they pull me away, and I think if they not pull me away,
I sure to kill that girl.

61. I lock her up in her room for three days,and I ashamed to tellher teacher,so I just tell the teacher
that Lay Choo is sick,soplease to excuse her.Oh,Madam,how you feel in my place? Make herself so
cheap,when her father drive taxi all day to save money for her University.

62. Is everything between you and your daughter okay now? What is it, Madam?I said is everything
between you and your daughter okay now? Yes,yes,everything okay now, thank you.She cannot leave
the house except to go to school, and I tell her mother always check, check in everything she do, and her
friends--what sort of people they are...

63. Can you wait for me until my meeting is done? What, Madam? Oh, so sorry,Madam,cannot wait for
you to finish your meeting. Must go off, please to excuse me. In a hurry, Madam. Must go off to Hotel
Elroy--there plentypeople to pick up. So very sorry, Madam, and thank you very much. Oh, that’s ok.
Here’s the payment. Thank you for sharing your story to me.
64. My youngest daughter have a similar behavior Similar like the other schoolgirls that act like
gangstersSince you’re a teacher, did you know something strange about the girlsAfter school time, they
don’t really go home but they go to hotels and other places for sure

65. If you have a daughter, don’t accept her trust But you only do that when she wants to go out Just
like my naughty daughter who really got caughtFor that, I scolded her so loud that I don’t even care so I
just shout

66. • A taxi driver rides with a female teacher passenger.• He talks about the changes in Singapore.• He
talks about his family.• He talks about his observations about youth and prostitution.• He talks about his
problem with his daughter• The passenger got off he taxi and the taxi driver went to Hotel Elory
hurriedly

67. Taxi Driver

68. Passenger

69. Lay Choo

70. Place - Singapore

71. Main setting – Inside the Taxi

72. Parenthood

73. Prostitution

74. • How young people of Singapore have grown to be bold and reckless; as compared to the youth’s of
the ‘old’ Singapore.• Differences of the ‘old’ (taximan’s generation) and current (Lay Choo’s generation)
Singapore• How making a living in Singapore has overcome the need to stand up for our own beliefs and
make a stand to whatever opposes us.

75. Man vs. Man

76. Man vs. Society

77. • Taxi drivers and vehicles• Hotel Elory, Tung Court, Orchid Mansions• Taxi• Money• Young people
observed in the story

78. Jonna Rose Jallores John Paulo Ibay Miso C. Kim Friend Gregorio as as as As Lay Choo The Taximan
Madam Himself Based on Original Story by CATHERINE LIM