Pay The Man You Losers!

You have probably seen this and if you haven't, WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?

Taken off The UK Daily Mail

Brits in Singapore mock aged rickshaw driver and spark anger over YouTube clip

18:55pm on 1st November 2007

Three British tourists who mocked a 76-year-old rickshaw driver because he couldn't pedal fast enough for them - then posted a video of the struggling and panting old man on YouTube - have caused uproar in Singapore.

The trio also ran off without paying the £5 fare he requested and escaped in a taxi yelling expletives which were heard on YouTube as they filmed themselves leaving the scene at Clarke Quay, popular nightspot.

“Ten dollars my fucking arse,” yelled one as the video camera showed a close-up of his face.

The video titled “the Slowest Taxi In SE Asia” was posted on the popular site by one of the three, who called himself Bo Davis.

Angered by the way they treated the rickshaw driver dozens of Singaporean bombarded the website and local papers, expressing their feelings and what they would like to do to them.

“Don't come back to Singapore,” wrote one. “We will be waiting for you.”

Another attacked them for behaving like Singapore was still a British colony. And a local tabloid The New Paper splashed the story on the front page with two pages inside, showing the laughing faces of the mocking Brits goading the rickshaw rider.

The video also showed close-ups of the three Brits and the agonised look on the face of the driver, Mr Lee Shee Lam, as he pedalled as fast as he could under the weight of the three men, all in their mid to late twenties.

They were also heard laughing and mocking him. “God, he's in fifth gear,” said one.

They had squeezed into the rickshaw at Clarke Quay for the ten minute ride along the river.

But soon it was clear they were out to poke fun at Mr Lam along the way.

Among all the "chow ang moh" and "bloody Brits" we have seen splashed all over the internet, have anyone of you realised that the boys have already committed a crime? In the UK, they could be charged for "making off without payment" - S3 Theft Act 1978 which provides for "an obtaining of services where the other is induced to confer a benefit by doing some act, or causing or permitting some act to be done, on the understanding that the benefit has been or will be paid for." In this case, the service is not the trip from point A to B but the entertainment value and that they have moved from one point to another regardless of the distance traveled and the speed that they went by. Don't ask me about the Penal Code because I have no freaking idea.

After the whole saga on some car forum in Singapore, I'm too tired to comment on anything but no matter what nationalities these guys may be and whatever skin colour they are wearing, this behavior is unacceptable and not right. Unlike what most people think, I thought the fun and jeering is not uncommon and we do that unknowingly without considering the consequences and finally, I do not blame them for that. My only fault and the only issue that makes me really upset, would be them not paying for the service that they have already obtained. Seeing the old man riding the bike with all his might pains me but objectively speaking, he has provided a service and should be compensated for. Even if a young man were to be riding that trishaw with no trouble whatsoever, he should too be paid for the service he has provided.

See for yourself and form your own comment. And yes, using "ang moh" is offensive. My Comedy Boss is probably my favourite person in the office. He's a Brit and nothing like those chaps in the clip. Do not make an across the board kinda comment, it's not fair. I don't like being called a chink or FOB when I'm out of Singapore as well. Basic respect for your peers.