OBNOXIOUS CIVIL SERVANT PARKS BMW AT MOTORCYCLE LOT AND THREATENS BIKER

Dear A.S.S,

So this just happened at the carpark opposite Ghim Moh market, 20 Ghim Moh Road.

I walked back to my bike and saw a BMW parked next to my ride. Which was weird because I thought I remembered that space was marked out for motorcycles. So I looked again to double check, true enough, the car had parked in the space meant for not one, not two, but three motorcycle lots.

At this point, the driver (a skinny bespectacled Chinese man in his late fifties?) alighted. He saw me looking at the markings on the ground, and asked if there’s a problem. Thinking that he might have been mistaken, I asked him if he knew he was parking over the motorcycle lots.

Guess what? He retorted in a challenging tone that I had my own parking space, and that I shouldn’t care. Said he ‘wasn’t parking’, then proceeded to lock his car and walk away.

I don’t know why, I took a photo of his beautifully parked car. He came back and asked if I took his photo (he must have been lurking around), looking half worried and half frustrated. (No Uncle, you are not Brad Pitt, why would I want to take your photo?) I told him since he didn’t do anything wrong, he has nothing to worry about.

His retaliation? He pompously announced that since I took ‘his photo’, he would take mine as well. I gladly obliged. (Sure, be my guest. My lovely Vespa is parked perfectly within my bike lot).

You know, under normal circumstances, I might have just let it go. I’ve never reported errant drivers, I don’t know which authority is in charge, and it’s really just too much trouble. But what this uncle said next really made me want to do something about it.

If he weren’t so obnoxiously rude, I might have let it go. He threatened me.

‘DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I’M A CIVIL SERVANT YOU KNOW!’ (Wrong threat. I used to be a civil servant and some part of me still feels like I’m part of the service; so this only made my blood boil. What a disgrace you are to the rest of the responsible, hardworking civil servants I know!)

‘YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE MESSING WITH! YOU ARE PLAYING WITH YOUR ARSE!’ (Hmm, what kind of a metaphor is that?)

All the while ranting that he’s ‘not parking’, ‘not parking’. At which point I pointed out the red painted words on the ground to him – ‘NO PARKING’.

Mr All-Important-Civil-Servant, if you didn’t do anything wrong, why did you hastily drive away then? All the while reminding me loudly that I’m ‘playing with my arse’.
Mr All-Important-Civil-Servant, you are a disgrace to the public administration. I humbly suggest you use your Skillsfuture credits for a parking refresher course. Or basic etiquette. Or language improvement.

This would have been wonderful material for a teachable moment. What a waste!

Just for you, I’m going to educate myself on the procedures of reporting errant parking offenders. And don’t worry, it’s no trouble at all.

**Update: Errant parking offence has been reported via onemotoring. It's over to LTA now. Thanks everyone who pm-ed me with suggestions and information!

Carrine Yeo