That was in 1985, when a steep rise in fares - with flagdown soaring by 80 cents to $2 - resulted in many commuters boycotting cabs, and consequently, a sharp drop in cabbies' earnings.

'Many drivers were talking about parking their cabs along the ECP to protest,' said Mr Leong, who has been driving a cab for 27 years.

'Business was so bad that we could queue for up to three hours at the airport, and taxis tailed back all the way to the PIE exit.'

'At first, passengers still dare not take cabs,' Mr Leong said. 'Then, one month later, they came back.'

With taxi drivers complaining of lower takings since the latest round of fare increases three weeks ago, will history repeat itself?

Unlikely. The latest increase is not as sharp as that of 1985, with flagdown rising by only 30 cents (although many reckon the 35 per cent peak period surcharge is overdone).

The circumstances in 1985 were also vastly different. Singapore was in the throes of a recession then, with layoffs and pay cuts making the news every other day.

Today, we are in the midst of an economic boom, although one might argue that the taxi fare increase came at a time when everything else - from bread to electricity - has gone up in price. And you can cut back more easily on taxi rides than on bread.

What about bread on the taxi-driver's table - a contentious issue, going by the 1985 U-turn?

The latest fare adjustment - which raised the cost of an average cab ride by 15 to 20 per cent - was supposed to have taken into consideration an expected drop in demand for cabs. As a means to curb demand, it has worked like a charm. Commuters find it much easier to find a cab now. So much so that call bookings have fallen by as much as 40 per cent.

Ideally, the higher fares would mean cabbies having to ferry fewer passengers and yet earn a bit more.

That essentially has been the primary objective behind the rise. Cab companies want their drivers - who are their hirers and customers - to stay in the trade. Especially when the job market is as buoyant as it is now.

But judging from the feedback on the road so far, it does not seem to have worked out exactly as planned. Most of the two dozen taxi-drivers interviewed by The Straits Times said their income had either shrunk or remained unchanged since the hike on Dec 17.

This is worrying, since the period between December and Chinese New Year has traditionally been busy for the industry, what with the wet weather.

So it would seem that many people have cut down on cab trips. Whether this is another knee-jerk reaction that will pass will be known only in a few months' time.

In all probability, the income of taxi-drivers will improve in the long term - provided there is no rise in fuel price or the taxi rental rate.

But if it does not, the industry will face a consolidation. Drivers will quit, and the weaker companies might have to fold - something which happened in the early 1990s.

This would not necessarily be a bad thing. Singapore has about 24,000 cabs - double the cohort in 1985 - and one of the highest ratios of cabs to passengers.

As another veteran cabby succinctly put it: 'When I started 20 years ago, we had to wait up to three months for a taxi to drive.

'Today, you can get one within 20 minutes.'

The situation is expected to get worse. The pressure to retain drivers could intensify when the two integrated resorts start hiring croupiers by the thousand in less than a year from now.

Macau, for instance, has been facing an acute cabby shortage precisely because drivers have opted for the comfort and stability of a job behind the blackjack table.

Taxi-driving has long been the last safety net for Singaporeans who find themselves out of a job or on the wrong side of 40. Is it time for Singapore to consider opening the field to foreigners?

To avoid going down that uncharted road - a road with no U-turns - cabbies must take home more than the $2,300 or so a month that many of them do today.

christan@sph.com.sg