WHY IT'S A MUST TO OWN A CAR IN SINGAPORE!!!

For the past 6 weeks, I've had the privilege of "owning" a car.

You see, my dad had been in Thailand for the past 6 weeks so he gave me this privilege.  In return I'd have to take care of it - you know, make sure it's clean and functioning and stuff.

So basically, I was able to drive wherever and whenever I wanted to.

It...  Was...  Awesome!!!

I'm the king of the woooorld!

But alas, today marks the end of the 6 weeks and I have realised that it is truly great to have your own car. 

So, I've come up with some reasons as to why you should own a car in Singapore.  ;)

1.  It's so dayuuum cheap.

(Please excuse me if I get some facts and figures wrong because I'm no car expert.)

It's really darn cheap, I mean, just look at the COE prices.  (onemotoring.com.sg)

A car (1600cc and below), has a COE price of approximately $78,000!  I mean, dude, who can't afford that?

And for bigger cars (1600cc and above), I mean, it's only slightly more expensive? But still cheap all the same - the COE prices are what, only about $82,000?  Sheesh, talk about cheap!

The cheapest car in Singapore (according to AsiaOne) would be the:

Perodua Kenari EZ 1.0 (A) 5dr.  

(Have you even heard of it?)

And this baby, this hot ride, costs ONLY $60,999.  

We could probably get a BMW 5 series for about US$50,000 in America, but I mean, who cares about that when we could be driving this sexy thang right?   

2. Parking/Driving is waaaay cheap too!

Did you know that parking at any ol' "coupon car park" is super cheap?

It's like, $0.50 per half hour, and $1.00 per hour!  Unless you park at those yellow lots, then it's $1.00 per half hour.  

And think about it, if you have long hours spent there, for example, maybe 5 hours, it'd be $5.00 only!  And if you had to park there everyday cause of school/work (no one's work hours would only accumulate up to 5 hours), it'd be $25 a week!  HOW CHEAP RIGHT??

When you run out of 1 hour/2 hour coupons, you suffer by peeling tons of half hour coupons.  :/

And nowadays, it's even better!  We no longer need to keep picking and picking at those parking coupons, instead, gantries will be placed everywhere!  

You know, parking around town costs about $7 for 2 hours.  Crazy cheap, I know.  

Every time I see my cash card's amount dwindle, I feel all happy inside.  

Also, have you heard of ERP?  I'm sure you have.  Cause ERP is everywhere!  

When you get lost in town, it's the BEST.  Because everywhere, there are ERP gantries, and when you're driving in rounds to find your way to your destination, you'll keep hearing the "TEET" of the cash card machine.  And each time you hear that "TEET", you'll know that at least a dollar will be taken off your cash card. So in just 5 minutes, you may pay $5.00! Amazing isn't it?

And if you somehow happen to forget to put your cash card in?  Don't worry about it!  The LTA is SO gracious!  No warning letter of such, they'll just make you pay a measly $11!  So sweet of them right??

Not to mention petrol, petrol is so cheap too.  I get the normal one, the N95 petrol from Caltex, and it's just about $80.00 per full tank!  Imagine, for a week or so of petrol usage, it only costs $80.00!  WOW. 

Sadly, I don't know much about car maintenance.  But I'm pretty sure it's real cheap too!  I remember  we had to exchange the exterior of 2 of our car doors, and it only cost about $1000.00.  Nothing anyone couldn't afford!


3. Traffic jams are THE BEST.

CTE, PIE, Serangoon Road, you name it, they've got it!

They've got traffic jam during peak hour! 

Which is really awesome, I mean, your car would just be at a standstill for a few seconds or more, and each time you're able to move, you just move a few inches!

Plus you'll get to meet all the friendly, gracious drivers out there who will honk at you ever so sweetly when you're trying to filter and maybe even make darling hand gestures at you if they are reeeeaally lovely!  Too bad you can't hear what they're saying across the road, cause I'm SURE they'll be yelling some really kind words to you too! 

Sometimes peak hour jams aren't that fun because they clear up pretty easily.  The most "shiok" traffic jams are when there are car accidents or when they just choose to do road works/cut trees when there is heavy traffic to begin with!  The queue of cars never clears up! It's just awesome!


4. Singapore is HUGE.

Let's face it.  Singapore is HUMONGOUS.  

There is no way anyone could survive without a car!  I mean, there is barely any public transport!  What are MRTs, buses, or Taxis even??

I always thought those people that owned Ferraris, Maseratis, and Lamborghinis were super smart because there is simply so much space to speed around and rev their engines about!  I mean, there are barely any traffic lights here cause there are numerous long highways for speeding!

So yeah, I think you catch my drift, it is totally worth it to buy a car in Singapore!  

I mean, it's completely necessary, and not at all a waste of money - it's so cheap!!

Okay okay, I'm sure you could, or at least I hope you could tell I was being sarcastic!

Truly, these 6 weeks have taught me that owning a car in Singapore is NO JOKE.

The car costs a bomb, insurance and maintenance of the car costs a bomb, and parking and ERPs fees cause the explosion.  It's insane.  You have to remember that while paying for all these things, in the future, you'd probably be paying for other expenses such as your house and utilities.

Maybe it's cause I'm not rich.  Maybe it's cause I haven't started working so I don't see how possible or necessary it is to own a car.

But I can't help but think that Singapore is tiny small and has such an established network of public transport.  Is owning a car really necessary?

Not to mention, the LTA is crazy strict with fines regarding parking and ERP's.  They're vicious.  Haha!

And I could buy a way better car if I were overseas, how sad is that?  :(

Plus, even if I were filthy rich, would I be able to handle dealing with traffic jams everywhere?  (It's a real waste of time and petrol you know.)

I guess all in all I'm very thankful that my dad gave me such a privilege - to own my own car for 6 weeks.  And these 6 weeks opened my eyes to the "vehicle/traffic situation" in Singapore and taught me a valuable lesson.

I guess for now I'm content with what I have.  :)