Social Boldness

Social boldness is a trait that not many have. It takes social boldness to drive a disfigured car around Singapore, and I have done it for the past four weeks. It has been quite an experience.

Singapore is a place where all the cars (well most of the cars) are sleek, shiny, and new. You hardly see an old, let alone deformed car on the road. Most cars are de-registered and sent overseas or the scrapyard way before they turn 10 years old. The government set a policy that encourages car owners to de-register their cars at 5 years old. Our car is a considered an octogenarian as it is 8 years and 5 months old. Its cohorts can hardly be found on the street.

It has been quite an experience driving this disfigured car. It has drawn looks. People looked at the car and then looked at me, and I could tell they formed an unflattering opinion about my driving skills. Some pretended not to have seen it, especially friends and neighbors. Being polite, they don't want to put me in an awkward or embarrassing moment. Our children were at first embarrassed of the car condition. I told them, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not a stolen car. Beside, think of the alternative, I told them: take public transport in the sweltering weather. Surprisingly, I have gained the approval of our eccentric neighbor who is driving a Toyota from the 1980's. The old man, who usually looks dour, now will nod and smile to me. He considers me his tribe: fellow owner of ugly cars :-) Now, my children are getting the notion, how special our car is. I hope this experience has planted seeds of social boldness in them.

People have been asking me how much longer I am keeping the car for the past 3 years. Every time, I answered till its 9 years and 11 months, or until it become too problematic. Well, we have clocked 164,000 km on in. Apart from the normal wear and tear maintenance, this car hardly ever give me grief. Considering all the problems with sticky pedals and brake malfunction problems of the Toyotas in the US, we should be weary of getting a new car. My car accelerates when I want it to, slows down when I release the accelerator, and safely stops when I press on the brake. One can't help to wonder, what if the new car is not as reliable as this one, good look notwithstanding?