Jun 22 2008
Driving expensively away
I am a late comer to this driving thing. I still have a lovely neon yellow and orange probation plate, warning off drivers on my front and back windscreens. It’s not that I’m a terrible newbie driver; I still signal at every lane change and turn, and check and recheck my blindspots… Still there are some things that I don’t do very well! Like gauge how much to reverse when I’m parking – hence the pretty dent on the back of my second-hand honda!
I bought my first ever car about 3 months ago and frankly I can’t quite imagine life without it anymore. I used to be a pretty hardcore non car person, even when I was studying in the United States I actually trekked back and forth to the supermarket with a hiking backpack (yes, I was young, foolish and quite fit!) Even with a kid in tow, no maid and 6-7 months pregnant I still used to take public transport and only cab it when I had a lot of groceries. Many of my friends thought I was quite mad, but I just calculated how it was totally not worth it to get a car in Singapore, what with the ERP, road tax, COE, parking, fuel prices, etc… Things obviously changed when I had my second son – there was no way I could handle both toddler and newborn by myself in a taxi, not to mention groceries or shopping. So my husband and I got our licenses and a modest, fuel-efficient honda jazz, crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.
It’s definitely more expensive yes, but there are all these intangibles that you can’t put a value on: like not waiting for public transport with a pram and crochety children, not having to be put on hold calling for a cab, not having to deal with erratic taxi drivers or those people on trains and buses who pretend to be sound asleep even when you’re 8 months pregnant with a toddler and pram and obviously need a seat on the bus/train.
I wonder whether it’s just a function of being in Singapore – when we were holidaying in Amsterdam (pregnant, with toddler and pram) – we never had a problem getting onto trams and people were always lining up to give up their seats to us. Some trams even had designated pram/bicycle bays. It’s even simple gestures, like in Tokyo when you say “Excuse me” because it’s your stop and an already packed train squeezes itself even more to open a path for you to get off the train, and the people getting on at that stop do not try to trample over you in their bid to get on the train first!
So definitely it’s a combination of infrastructural and etiquette-based factors that make a car a logical option for those who can afford it. But coming back to the question of cost – with the recent ERP hikes the debate comes back again… Is electronic road pricing a good way to control congestion or does it just unfairly penalise people who have cars who have no alternate routes to go to work or back home? Are there more efficient ways of ensuring good traffic flow like staggered working times or tele-commuting? Or even making public transport more efficient, cost-effective and comfortable and then incentivising people to take it (like with more seasonal passes) instead of just taxing car owners – some of whom may actually own cars out of necessity and not luxury.
I understand that we are a small island, and that we have to control the population of cars on the island for the sake of minimise pollution and congestion – but really – has enough been done to ensure a comfortable public transportation system that is time and cost-efficient for the commuter and not just for the service-providers? And perhaps for the disabled, pregnant and elderly – special seats could be set aside and labeled as such – quite like lots for the disabled that are now left empty on instinct by able bodied drivers. We don’t have to legislate all kinds of bad behaviour away, but surely this could be somehow enforced…
5 responses so far
Joanne Leow is a producer-presenter with Channel NewsAsia. She is married with 2 young sons and spends her free time reading, writing, swimming, doing yoga and cooking up a storm.
You should always signal at every lane change and turn, and check and recheck my blindspots is a good habit. Please don’t forget these once you remove your probation plate!
I agreed with you on the countesy issue on public transport. Although there are people still willing to give up seats to those need it most, but, there are still lots of “black sheeps” around.
In S’pore, people still do not give way to those trying to alight from the train. Sometimes, I do find other country people far more countesy than S’porean in certain ways. For one, I dont go overseas often, but, recently trip to Hongkong I find the people there give ways for people alighting the train unlike in the past, it seems like Hongkongers are improving their countesy.
However, in Spore, I often met people standing right in front of the gate door and do not give way for people alighting the train. They can stand still in the middle and trying to get in whereas those alighting cannot get out at all.
Sorry for your bad (and apparently not uncommon) experiences on the MRT.
I wanted to get out at Outram MRT the other day during peak hour (not my usual route). I got on at Dover MRT and was sandwiched against the doors at the opposite end. I felt it was going to be impossible to get out. My gentle “excuse me” provoked a Red Sea parting! Simply amazing! I got out under a second; there is hope!
Glad you had so much youthful idealism. Now give yourself a break and with the time and punishment you’ve saved yourself, I am sure you will direct to imbuing your kids with some environmental ethics. That is simply going to amplify your impact! All the best.
Thanks for sharing your experiences on public transport! It’s nice to know that there is still hope – I will continue to keep my fingers crossed…
Hi Joanne,
For the longest time that I can remember (and men has this uncanny ability to remember about their cars), I have always used a car – big, small, fast, slow – until just over 2 years ago when I decided to use the public transportation system. I was surprised by the efficiency of the public transportation system. There is always a tendency to criticize it and talk incessantly about how to improve it, including from those who do not use it!
I think the complaints I have are not about the system but the attitude of the people using it such as don’t move inside, not giving up seat for the more needy…It is all part of a society lacking in social graces. Sadly as I was talking to a younger ex-colleague a few weeks ago, I said that we tend to compare with those have but not those who have not! That’s one of the reasons for a lacking in compassion in Singapore. Giving money is easy but an act of charity is so difficult.
The real issue is how to educate users of public transport. And a thought just struck me as I started to write. Perhaps the public transport operators should fight fire with fire. Start a program and employ a team of people who exemplifies all kinds of bad behaviour. This team goes out to use the public transport pretending to be a user and show the bad behaviour. Then at some point maybe 15 mins later exhort to those around why they should not bahave like that.
Alas, my short time with public transport has come to an end and with it my daily exercise of walking to the bus stop and sharing my carbon emission with other commuters. Sigh. Working in the boondocks necessitate owning and using a car. Well, at least I have had 2 good years with public transport!