Singapore, that little city/country-state between Malaysia and Indonesia where they barely exceed five million inhabitants, is a place of contrasts. While the enclave has a high degree of government control and certain practices that can be described as repressive, on the other they embrace new technologies to the point of being a world reference in the public sphere towards AI. There, having a car is not a practical need, it is a statement of status.
Drive in Singapore. The story was told this week the New York Times. In Singapore, possessing a car is not something practical, it is rather a statement comparable to dressing a designer suit or wearing a luxury watch. The reason? The Property Certificates System (introduced in 1990 to control congestion and pollution) imposes citizens paying astronomical sums only for the right to Buy a vehicle.
These certificates, known as certificates of entitlement (COE), can reach up to $ 84,000, raising the total Price of common cars to exorbitant figures more typical of a supercar. As the newspaper Andre Lee was told to the newspaper, which in 2020 paid $ 24,000 for a second -hand Kia Fort, having a car was simply part of its professional image, although it later acknowledged that the expense was not justified and chose to sell it.
An unnecessary luxury. It is also explained on the other hand. With an affordable and effective public transport network, few residents really need a car to move around the city. Long paths cost less than two dollars and transport apps such as Grab are widely available. Despite this, twice a month, COE auctions are held, with limited quotas set by the government.
This policy has been very effective: Singapore has only 11 cars per 100 inhabitants, well below countries such as the United States or Italy, where the figure exceeds 75. Other cities have adopted by measures against congestion, such as urban tolls in London, Stockholm or New York, but none charges both for having a car and Singapore.
The car and social classes. For the richest in the country, acquiring a vehicle with all associated costs does not represent a problem. Su-Sanne Ching, businesswoman, said she paid $ 150,000 for a Mercedes-Benz, including a $ 60,000 COE. On the other hand, for the middle class, especially families with children, the car becomes a luxury difficult to sustain. Joy Fang and her husband told the Times that they bought in 2022 an Avante Hyundai used for $ 58,000 to take their two children.
Every month they allocate more than 10% of their family budget to keep the vehicle, which has forced them to reduce departures and trips. Even so, they consider that the alternative (moving with young children and bags in public transport) is unfeasible.
Sometimes not even symbolism. There are more extreme cases. Even for those who acquire a car for symbolic or professional reasons, such as Andre Lee, cumulative expenses can make the decision lose meaning. Maintenance, gasoline, parking and insurance end up exceeding the initial expectations.
Read, for example, sold his car three years after buying it and now moves in public transport, or borrows his father’s vehicle when he needs to meet with customers. In his opinion, there are other priorities that ended up despite more than the image that projected to have their own car.
Rational choice against chaos. Singapore’s restrictive model contrasts with that of other cities in Southeast Asia such as Yakarta or Bangkok, where extreme traffic turns displacements into an odyssey. For many Singapurenses, giving up the personal car is a reasonable price for enjoying more clear streets and fast journeys. In this regard and according to the sociologist Chua Beng Huat, the choice is cultural and practical: the population prefers to avoid long hours behind the wheel. The man himself, despite having a SUV byd to move his grandchildren, says he turns to the subway when he goes to the center.
Ultimately, the car in Singapore seems to have become a more than functional aspirational good, one reserved for those who can afford it without compromising their economy. Unlike other parts of the world where the vehicle represents an almost imperative need for mobility or independence, on the island-state it is, for many, a luxury that compares with the most ostentatious objects.
There is like having a rolex, or almost.
Image | William Cho
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