Singapore and cars

[Filthy GT-P]

I have just got back from two weeks in Singapore and i thought I would share some startling findings with you.

1. I did not see one Ford badged car the whole time I was there.
2. Fortunately I did not see any Holdens either (just a few small Chevy 4 cylinder jobs)
3. Most taxis are manual not automatic
4. You have to purchase the right to purchase a motor vehicle. The document is called a "Certificate of Entitlement"
5. Currently a certificate of entitlement costs are around S$ 18,000 (Exchange rate is currently around AUD$1.00 is equal to SD$1.20)
6. When the system was first introduced the certificates went for as much as SD$80,000
7. An additional restriction on car ownership is the requirement that motor vehicles more than twelve years old, known as 'time expired' vehicles, must either be scrapped, or exported from Singapore, usually to neighbouring countries.
8. most cars are smaller cars
9. this was the most scary thing i learnt there is that the Singapore Government believe that the ideal population for the country is 6 to 6.5 million people.
10. The current population is around 4.5 million people, helped along over recent times by a baby bonus scheme (sound familiar?)
11. The country Singapore measures 683 sq kms. (The state of Victoria measures 227,620 sq km)
    

The one definite thing is that it would be useless to start a Singapore Ford Forums as there wouldn't be very many members.


Regards


Steven