In April 2014, 56-year-old Elizabeth Lim Poh Suan was among six service staff from SBS Transit and SMRT who received awards at the Land Transport Excellence Awards 2014. Given the Service-Excellence Individual Award for her outstanding customer service, she was the only woman recognised for doing her job so well.
Ms Lim is used to being a rose among the thorns, though. For nearly 33 years, she has been an SBS Transit bus driver, one of only about 300 female ones out of 6,200 drivers. But this is not her first time working in a male-dominated industry.
“When I was a teenager, I worked as a construction worker during weekends and school holidays,” she shares.
“I come from a family of 11 brothers and sisters, and my parents were very poor. So, when my older brother and sister got a job at a construction site, my mother asked me to go with them.”
In Pursuit of a Dream Job
She may have laboured in the sun for money, but she is driving buses now for the love of the job.
“I have always wanted to drive a bus,” she enthuses. “When I was young, I used to envy the drivers for their ability to handle such huge vehicles.”
So, in 1981, after a few years working in factories and by then married with a young daughter, Ms Lim decided to pursue her passion and apply to be an SBS Transit driver.
“I love my job. I enjoy the freedom of being on the road on my own,” says Ms Lim who started out driving in the Western region of Singapore.
So dedicated was she to her job, she was driving right up to the day she was due to give birth to her second daughter.
It’s a Woman’s World, Too
The cheery grandmother of four says she has never been bullied in the over three decades as a bus captain.
“When I first joined, there were even fewer women drivers. The men never bullied us. In fact, they took really good care of us. They would fill the radiator water and brake oil for us because the bus’ engines were so high up,” recalls Ms Lim.
Often up as early as 3.30 in the morning and at work well before sunrise, the odd working hours do not bother her either.
“I’m the gutsy sort. I don’t scare easily. So, I don’t mind driving in the dark or working late at night,” she says.
But, she concedes that the early days had its challenges.
“In those days, the buses had manual steering and it was difficult for women to turn the steering wheel because it was so heavy,” she says.
“But I’m tough. I grew up in a farm doing manual labour. I got used to it. Now with power steering and air-conditioned buses, everything is so much easier.”
Contrary to the belief that women make poor drivers, Ms Lim has never been criticised for her driving skills, or lack of.
“No one’s ever complained. People have actually come up to me and told me that I am a very good driver,” she laughs.
Her accident-free track record stands as a testimony to her skills.
“I am very careful when I drive. I make sure I have enough rest and am alert because the lives of all my passengers and others on the road with me are in my hands whenever I am behind the wheels,” she explains.
Service Par Excellence
Maintaining a positive attitude is her key to making her job work for her.
“When someone who looks like he is in a bad mood boards my bus, I greet them warmly and they cool down. Maybe they see that I am a woman and so they dare not be too gruff with me,” she chuckles.
She considers her job as a bus captain to encompass more than just driving. Ms Lim offers a full suite of services.
“I like to help people,” she declares. “When someone with a cane flags down my bus or someone with a handicap, I will come down and help them board the bus.”
Once, when a child threw up in her bus, Ms Lim helped to clean up the mess and even gave the child some medicated oil.
In return, passengers treat her very well, too.
“I get snacks from them, even packets of food. During the Chinese New Year, they give me red packets and thank me for working on public holidays,” she says.
“If you treat people well, everything will be okay.”
Today, Ms Lim has mastered some 40 service routes and is a Chief Bus Captain, a rank she was awarded in 2011 for her years of experience, and excellent service and safety records. Ms Lim is one of only four Chief Bus Captains, and the only woman amongst them. In addition to driving, she mentors new drivers and advises them on safe driving skills
“I am happy on the job every day. I want to drive till they don’t want me anymore. I’m too young to retire.”
