One MP says “very fashionable” not to own cars while another drives a big Bentley

Speaking at the launch of a public engagement exercise for the next Land Transport Master Plan yesterday (19 Sep), Potong Pasir MP Sitoh Yih Pin told reporters that it has become “very fashionable” for young adults not to own or drive a car in Singapore these days.

Mr Sitoh is a member of Singapore’s Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP) advisory panel. He said that many Singaporeans have adopted the concept of a car-lite society and the Walk-Cycle-Ride way of travel into their lives.

As a member of the LTMP advisory panel appointed by LTA, he is supposed to consider the public’s views, deliberate on various issues, and make recommendations for LTMP 2040.

“If you look at what we announced today, it’s not just about creating or building a seamless transport system. It’s actually about creating a better life for our residents, for our citizens, for our people,” he said.

“When you talk to the young, it appears to me it is becoming very fashionable not to drive so much, maybe not to even own a car, and to take public transport more, to take the trains more and to take the buses more, even to walk and to cycle,” he added.

“If we drive less, we don’t have so many roads, so many cars, then maybe the limited land space in Singapore may be used for more walkways, more cycling paths and … we can have more greenery, more trees.”

Yesterday (19 Sep), COE price for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp closed at $28,000 while COE price for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp closed at $31,307. The premium for Open COE was $32,000.

With high COE premiums, a new 1.5 Toyota Vios, for example, already cost about $80,000.

It’s no wonder that it has indeed, become “very fashionable” for young people not to own or drive a car in Singapore, since car prices have already gone beyond the reach of many Singaporean working adults.

Meanwhile, news have emerged that a white Bentley parked at Orchid Country Club actually belongs to Bishan-Toa Payoh MP Chong Kee Hiong.

Hence, it appears that it has also become “very fashionable” these days for MPs to drive big fancy cars in Singapore.