You know, our parents used to feed us with success stories about doing our best in schools academically, work our way through university and graduate with a piece of paper that would guarantee our success in life.

But what happens if that great dream isn’t as grand as it seems to be?

What if it is all just an illusion?

A mere piece of paper; is that really all it takes to be successful in a career, in life?

Here is one man’s journey of a dream turned to ashes, of a career crumbled to dust, of his PHD status ripped to shreds. For he is now a mere taxi driver in the midst of busy cosmopolitan Singapore, earning a living off ferrying people on the streets.

Dr. Cai used to be a prominent scientist, one credited with discovering fluorescent green protein (GFP), an important milestone in the field of genetics where GFP is commonly used as a molecular marker to tag genes or proteins so that they become visually identifiable. He had since lost his job, and driven to desperation, decided to trade career hats to become a taxi driver.

It isn’t any less noble, what the man is doing. Showing a knack for writing and crafting an interesting sociological point of view of Singapore’s more affluent society, and the lesser ventured backlanes and alleys, Dr. Cai shows us a side of Singapore some of us have rarely seen before.

Visit Taxi Diary for enchanting tales narrated by Dr. Cai, the taxi driver with a PHD.