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.
