Car ownership in Singapore

Public transportation has been a hot topic in Singapore for sometime. So too about COE prices and car ownership.

I am a little concerned if the government's plan to grow the population, yet curb car population growth will mean an increasingly smaller percentage of the population can drive in Singapore. Will driving then become the privilege of the elites and the upper class?

I believe many Singaporean dream of owning a car sometime in their lives. Maybe the 'good' education system of ours have psyched us up to dream that it is an achieveable goal. And for those born into well to do families, almost a given that they will get their cars when they get their driving licenses.

That dream may fast be fading at the rate in which housing prices and COE prices are rising.

I recently met a friend who is thinking of getting a car. Not because he doesn't want to take the public transport, but because of the state of public transportation now. He has a young child and it is sometimes difficult to squeeze into the crowded trains, with the pram and all. So he decides that for some comfort for his young family, he is willing to pay to take a cab. Unfortunately, it was peak hour and willingness to pay is not enough. There were no aavilable cabs in sight. Calling for a cab also yielded no cabs. He was told by the cab operator to call back 10 minutes later. 10 minutes later, he called and was still told to call back 10 minutes later can be trying to the patience. He spent almost an hour on the road side, trying to call or flag down a cab, to no avail. This prompted him to think of buying a car. Yet, at current COE prices, he would have to fork out about S$100k for an Altis. 

While I know that there are a lot of families in Singapore who cannot afford the luxury of a car, what I am trying to say is that the opportunities for upward social mobility (simplistically defined here as being able to own a car), may be a challenge for the average Singapore citizen to aspire to in future.

Rain Gods

The heavenly presence of "rain gods" spell wet weather. It also mean you have to be careful what you eat at the dining table.. where you step ... and where you sit on too....

and I sat and stepped on a few. Unintentionally. I hope I don't incur the wrath of the gods, or worse, the titans.

Changing nature of high-rise litter

Back in the 80’s my mum always told me not to walk under the windows of HDB blocks. You never know what may come falling and smash into your heads. I had a personal experience some years back when a watermelon came crashing down next to where I walked. That experienced unnerved me so much, that for some months, I looked up whenever I walked under any HDB flat.

By and large, I think the government had done a good job in educating the public on the dangers of high-rise littering, and imposing strong penalties on those caught doing so. I can’t remember when I last heard of anyone hurt from high-rise litter.

But lately, my home seems to be “plagued” by another type of high-rise litter. Cigarette butts, medicated patches and… used sanitary pads! Wtf… They land on my window ledge. Although it is outside of my house, I do not appreciate that when I open my window, I see used sanitary pads hanging outside.

I wonder who I am able to complain to and how these litter bugs can be caught.

Perhaps it is time to do more to catch these litter bugs and bring them to account for their actions. Perhaps it is also time to have a campaign to promote civic awareness again, not just as a reminder to citizens, but also to create awareness to the increasing number of foreign nationals in Singapore too.

Cyclists should take responsibility over their own safety on the roads

There has been this nagging thought that has been chewing on me for awhile now.

A week ago I was driving towards a slip road, where I stopped for on-coming cars on the main road to pass. After the last of the cars passed, I proceeded to move off, but jammed on my brakes when I heard someone yell. Suddenly, I realized there was a cyclist right in front of my car (not at the road shoulder but right smack in the middle of the lane). The cyclist was not there earlier when I had stopped my car at the front of the slip road. The cyclist (a Caucasian) continued to yell at me for almost knocking into him. Thankfully, I don’t think I knocked him as he was still on his bike and cycling well.

At first I was really apologetic because I had thought that somehow I missed seeing him come from the main road behind the last car. But later on, recounting the incident, I believe the cyclist probably came from behind me while I waited for cars on the main road to clear.

I guess I was at fault for not checking that there are no other vehicles or persons in front of my car before driving off, but I think cyclists should also take responsibility for their own safety too.

When cycling past a car on a slip road, especially one that is stationary, to get in front of the car, please make sure you know that the driver is aware of your presence. Oftentimes, a driver will be looking back to make sure that there are no more on-coming cars before moving off to the main road. Worst of all is that instead of keeping to the side of the road, the cyclist cycled to the centre of the road, right into the path of my car.

I know some motorcycles also do this to get ahead of the traffic. But I think it is dangerous. At least for motorcycles, when they squeeze into the front, while passing the driver, the noise from their exhaust usually can alert drivers to their presence. But bicycles make no such noise.

Road users should take care of safety of others. As a car driver, I try to give space to cyclists too. But I would like to urge cyclists to please take responsibility for your own safety. This is my own personal experience, but I have also seen and read of other instances where cyclists who do not seem to understand how to ensure their own safety.

When a cyclist is hurt in an accident, the car driver is almost always blamed. It can be unfair. But life is not always fair.

To my cyclists fellow road users, ride well and stay safe.