As leaders meet, the man on the street waits for results

SINGAPORE: Plying the streets day and night to ferry passengers ranging from managers to housewives, cabbies can be a useful barometer for the pulse of any city.

So it seemed only natural that I heard this common refrain in taxis here in Singapore, the venue of key events of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, this week:

"Traffic adjustments, tight security, promotional banners and media reports this meeting just seems like a lot of bigwigs talking big business. All I know is whether I'm going to pick up more passengers for me to carry on making a living."