Personally, I think owning a car in Singapore, is not a cheap
and easy thing to do. Firstly, one needs to ensure one can support
a car. Once financial ability is confirmed, and the car is bought,
one needs to take every effort to prevent / avoid having one's car
scratched.
The popular thinking and opinion that owning a car is covenient, is
a misconception. Because with it, comes parking space hassles,
parking coupon time running out when visiting clients or friends,
and then there's the current issue of having it scratched by some
schizo maniac.
Several years ago, my car got scratched, and the culprit though
reported to the Police, nothing was done about it. Until recently
last year, the culprit who scratched my car cut the throat of an
NUS proffessor and was diagnosed to be suffering from severe
schizophrenia. This is my real experience with car-scratching
individuals. They're mostly mad people.
Next, my solution is to park in well lit and exposed lots, where
general public can see my car, and in corner lots . In covered
multi-story carparks, I park near adjacent flats where residence
can see the carpark and is bright - as well as in corner
lots.
I believe if you park carelessly, such as near pick up trucks, vans
and lorries, these illiterate drivers will fling their door open so
hard and wide, it bang against the side of your car, causing an
ugly dimple to form. Or if you park so close to the neighboring
vehicle that the driver of the other parked car find hard to enter
his vehicle, he may scratch your car in frustration and out of
revenge. REMEMBER, people ( or motorists ) in Singapore are VERY
vengeful. Generally, with the costs of living and owning a car in
Singapore so high, these sort of behaviour is inevtiable. So to
live with it, we all need to adopt certain extreme measures to
avoid these sort of disappointments, and heartaches.
I always take my time when looking for a "safe" parking lot. I park
far away from where I am going to if I have to, just so that my car
can be safe from sick people, in heartlands.
In this regard, forget convenience of owning a car. Because when
you park conveniently, and without consideration of such
probabilities, chances are, one day your car WILL be
scratched.
Believe me, I've been driving for more than 20 years, and even when
you are careful as a motorist, you cannot be sure to stay out of
accidents - just because others are wreckless on the road.
So owning a car in Singapore, and driving it is stressful. Not
convenient. Why do I own a car than?? Because I don't wanna be
amongst those buried underground should some maniac manages to
sneak a bomb into an MRT train some day.
