Carpark Fiasco

A 30 minute Carpark Coupon Issued by the URA/HDB*

I made an observation. This observation is about Singaporean carpark etiquettes. Although this blog entry made me laugh initially, after much thought, I felt it was no laughing matter.

1. Many Singaporeans seem to be transported into a different time zone when they enter into a carpark which requires the use of these coupons. Perhaps that is the reason why coupons are always torn 10 minutes ahead of the local time zone.
2. Many Singaporeans have taken a liking to the game of chance. They would deliberately tear a 30 minute coupon ( that being the minimum ) knowing full well that they would require much more than 30 minutes. The consequences** of this action is fairly light, so they would place their bets on the one chance that carpark attendants do not come on their routine checks.
3. Some Singaporeans are incredibly impatient when a driver takes too many attempts to reverse park his vehicle, because that car would be blocking traffic. So honks will come hard and fast if the driver uses more that 2 to 3 attempts.
4. Singaporeans do not have the courtesy to wave a driver off if he/she has no intention of driving off. ( scenario = A driver waits patiently as the driver of the parked car loads some groceries into his trunk. After loading, he just walks off and the driver who was waitng patiently becomes upset because he has wasted his time waiting for the lot that was not available to begin with. )

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Wah FD, you are on a very high horse hor***, can you sompa****and say that you have never done any of the above? - My Negro Amigo

I admit I've practised number 1 many times before, but not in the last 8 years and never again will he take part in this illegal behaviour. As for the rest, I can honestly say that I've never done so.

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Perhaps that is why many carparks and multi-storey carparks have installed an EPS ( Electronic Parking System ) to combat number 1 and 2 but as for 3 and 4 ...

what do you think?

1. More public education on courtesy?
2. More traffic wardens to ward off unruly behaviours?
3. Install car horns with dual settings - one which honks and another with audio clips that say "Excuse me, are you leaving?" or "Don't worry, take your time." ?
4. Impose a heavy fine on those who behave in an uncourteous or unruly manner?

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With my experience as a citizen of this country (26 years worth), I can tell you that it has been proven time and time again that only number 4 will work, because Singaporeans will only listen and respond to the ever widening crack in their wallets, everything else is just a fart in the wind.
aaa

* URA/HDB = Urban Redevelopment Authority/Housing Development Board

** Consequences = If a person is found to have placed insufficent coupons, a fine will be imposed according to the number of hours that has lapsed till the time of that inspection. ( i.e. if the warden comes at 1500hrs but the coupons are valid till 1300hrs then the driver is issued a fine of 2 hours, 4 x S$0.50 = S$2 along with some administrative charges. However if there is no valid coupon on the dashboard upon inspection, then a fine of S$30 is imposed along with administrative charges as well.

*** Hor : Another Singlish tag, used like a punctuation mark.

**** Sompa : Loosely translated as swear or promise.

Name: Fredizzle Height: 1.79 meters Weight: 115Kg

( Shit man, FD has put on weight again, this is getting a little disheartening, FD is doing all the right things. Damn. Maybe FD is doing too much weight resistance training, after all it is true that muscles weigh more than fats. FD's fitness level has definitely increased but why the weight increase? Sigh... )