Taxi Driver Earned Praises For Returning Lost Phone & Refusing Any Reward

It’s hard enough to find genuine kindness in normal times…

Let alone tumultuous times such as now.

And yet, one particular taxi driver has managed to prove that no matter how dire the circumstances are…

Genuine kindness can still happen.

Taxi Driver Earned Praises For Returning Lost Phone & Refusing Any Reward

According to Facebook user Julius Ho, a ComfortDelGro taxi driver managed to save the day…

With none other than an display of unconditional kindness – a notion which is admittedly rare and far between in such tumultuous times.

In the post, Ho told of how he had booked the aforementioned driver, a certain Mr Lim, from Kallang Wave Mall.

Even upon arrival, Mr Lim was proactive enough to offer help, even though Ho and his friend were managing their groceries “well”.

After arriving at their destination, they disembarked and started walking to the lift lobby. It was only halfway through when they realised something horrifying:

One of them had left their phone in the taxi.

Panicking, the pair proceeded to dial the ComfortDelGro hotline in desperation. When they were put on hold for five minutes, however, they decided to go with an alternative:

“We decided to head up to the apartment,” he wrote, “so that we could use an online app on a laptop to find the phone and make it ring.”

At the same time, they used the remaining phone to call the misplaced device.

And it worked. Within a few minutes, the driver picked up the call, and expressed that he will drive back to the original location. Despite being some distance away, he reached sooner than expected.

At this point, the pair was understandably elated. One of them also had $50 in hand, a small price to pay considering the opportunity cost. But what they didn’t know was that the driver was about to do something absolutely ‘ridiculous’.

“He returned the phone and refused to accept payment from us,” wrote Ho.

It was considerably unexpected, seeing how certain drivers have expected more for less. It was a notion that Ho professed as well.

“This brings back other memories where drivers returning phone would ask us to pay their fare to drive from their location or an even higher amount, sometimes before driving to the owner of the phone, as if holding the phone as ransom.”

But Mr Lim was not part of the batch. He also refused to accept a lower sum of money. And despite their insistence, the pair ultimately conceded defeat.

“This went on for a few minutes and after a spirited back and forth, we conceded that he would not accept a cash reward for returning the phone that we had carelessly misplaced.”

Amidst these tumultuous times, taxi drivers have undoubtedly had it tough. Yet in spite of a possible loss of income in 2020, Mr Lim still refused to claim any form of cash reward.

“In fact, we owe him,” stated Ho. “His petrol/diesel it took to drive back to us, his time which could’ve been used to do 1 or more trip(s), the fixed daily rental of his taxi, time he could have spent with his family.”

It was all forgotten in a moment of kindness – an unconditional one.

To end off, Ho had a few glowing words for Mr Lim.

“It is heartwarming to know that even in these sometimes bleak times that there are angels amongst us. Mr. Lim if you see this, I want you to know that you are generous and a truly decent human being, and you made this ending of 2020 more sweet than one could hope for. I wish you a blessed life!”

You can view the full post down below:

Netizens Were Full Of Praise

Netizens have since lauded Mr Lim for his kindness.

One even hailed him as a role model for Singaporeans.

Others also commended Ho for the commemorative post.

And several remarks certainly hit the nail on its head.

Not All Are Bad Drivers

Though such kind, unconditional acts are undeniably rare, they are not entirely non-existent.

Some time ago, a depressed passenger shared with her Grab driver that she’s an unemployed single mom of 5 children.

2 of them were supposedly in jail.

The driver, Grace, also learnt that she did not have money for lunch and the ride.

Apparently, the passenger had asked for her relative to pay for the ride at the destination.

The duo was headed for HDB hub, where the passenger will be attending a SkillsFuture computer course, hoping to be able to find a job.

When they arrived, however, Grace purportedly refused to collect the fare.

Instead, she gave $40 to the passenger, asking the latter to buy food for herself and her children.

It looks like angels do exist after all.

Featured Image: Phasut Waraphisit / Shutterstock.com (Image for illustration purpose only)