Blogging about yellow taxi came
up to my mind when, today, I was driving to office. At Mandarin-Colmera junction I was almost hitting a yellow taxi from behind. The taxi does not have brake
lights. The traffic light at the time was not functioning, while the taxi was
speeding and hit the brake suddenly. I was at normal speed from behind, since
there are no rear lights, I did not notice that he was slowing down. I almost
kissed his ass.
Public Transport drivers’ behavior
in Dili are usually not so friendly; they are also a bit indifferent. They do
not care much about other road users’ safety but theirs; traffic rules are less
upheld individually until police itself monitor and intervene. Both microlets
and taxies pull over indifferently anywhere they are asked to do so by passengers.
In Dili, there are no such predetermined buss stops and no such taxi layover stations.
Thus, any point they pull over with no indicator lights being used is normal in
the city.
Yellow taxi, people call it the
legend of Dili city’s public transport. All of the yellow taxi fleet have been
aging. Most if not all of them were imported since the beginning of the Independence
era of Timor-Leste in 1999. They are now 24 years of age taxi but still in
operation; the vehicles are wearing out, machines are obsolete, and their safety
apparatus are not working anymore. When people drive and see a yellow taxi in
front, they usually say it like a moving tree trunk crawling on the road because
it does not have any more of headlights, brake lights, direction indicator
lights, windshield wipers, but just a car body that is moving straight or
leaning to left for a pull over.
The legend should be in rest due to the age. They are no longer able to function due to obsolete machines and big number of mileages. Owners of yellow taxi have been desperately retaining the condition with extremely minimum investment to repair to a viable and safe standard. Most of the owners of yellow taxi come from lower-level income class who are desperately trying to survive in the hustle bustle of Dili city. The fact that the owners can’t afford to repair due to financial situation. Therefore, the taxies are operating and owners use the taxies as a source of income to sustain their lives.
Given such situations, even though the government has a system to control all the operating public transport mode and fleet for safety and operational viability. Yellow taxies are not going to be wiped out by the controlling system but by its own destiny. Eventually, the taxies will die on roads one-day or never wake up anymore again on its last rest of the day. So, people! please drive safe in the streets of Dili. Be patient when you encounter yellow taxies. Yellow taxies are the legend of Dili city that cannot be wiped out until it dies off by its own. Even the government is inevitably keep it due to the complexity to solve.
*I hope this gives you an inspiration
