‘Like a hobby’: Private driving instructors rue sunset industry that has quirky students, comfortable salaries
FEWER OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS, ASSOCIATION SAYS
The private driving instructors, as well as the Singapore Driving Instructor Association that represents them, said they worry that with fewer and eventually no private instructors left, future students will have fewer options to learn driving.
Association chairman Poh Ah Kiong told CNA that all students will have to go to driving schools when all the private instructors eventually retire.
The association has just 220 active members left, and the number is falling, he said.
It has been asking the police to issue new instructor licences for the past 30 years, but to no avail, he added.
“It will affect the students because they have no choice, they have to go to the schools when they can’t get a private instructor.”
He said that private instructors are more flexible with the timing of lessons. They do not have to follow a strict lesson plan, so they can tailor the classes to students of various learning speeds and abilities.
In contrast, the driving schools have a set lesson plan. So even those with previous driving experience, such as foreigners, will have to go through the same lessons, he said.
But these are factors beyond their control, say the private driving instructors, many of whom already have one eye on retirement.
Mr Kang, who has just officially retired from his 48-year career, said he will hand his current students over to his colleagues, and then take a holiday in Taiwan to celebrate his retirement.
Beyond that, it is an open road.
“I can teach a driving refresher course (for drivers who already have a licence), or I can even teach swimming classes again.”
As for Mr Lee, who turns 75 in May, he is “taking it easy” for his final weeks on the job, working just five to six hours a day.
“Actually it’s a hobby, I like to teach people to pass the time,” he said. “I want to see them drive properly and safely on the roads. It’s not really about the money.”
