Why Motor Im... can survive and even thrive in a market full of
different brands is due to one sole reason - AH BENGs are
everywhere!!!
My car-less cousin was in the Navy during NS. In his unit there
were a number of Hokkien Pengs (uneducated private soldiers) who
owned Charades, Impreza, Lancer, Starlet....etc. And these Bengs
liked to squat around their lean mean machines with cigarettes in
hand and engaging in MOD talk.
I have seen my cousin arrived for a family dinner in a super loud,
souped-up Impreza with stickers more vibrant than the rainbow,
spoiler ready to hang/dry bras, and the driver-friend sporting an
unmistakable Ah Beng look. When he came to the tables, he was
telling everyone that ONE DAY I WILL OWN THAT SAME
CAR. Everyone laughed out loud and called him an Ah Beng
wanabe. He was shocked for he thought it was cool to drive a car
that looked like a moving neon-display with Chinese characters to
match. He took it very personally and ignored us for a long
while.
Subsequently, when he left the army and graduated from university,
he realised what the joke was all about. He realised cars like that
are meant for a lesser group of people (usually lowly educated
ones) who cannot afford the real thing but try to make up for it by
adding bra hangers, neon lights, flashy stickers, Chinese
wordings....... He is now a proud owner of an Audi A4 after owning
an Altis which was pure stock, no mods.
Yes, the Impreza is a Beng car!
