The Martians Have Landed!

Recently petrol prices have sky-rocketed. It used to cost about S$1.10 per litre for 95-octane petrol not too long ago. Now it is about $1.70, an increase of more than 50%. The monthly petrol bill for my 1.6-litre Renault Scenic used to be just about $250. Now it is more $400. Together with rising electronic road pricing (ERP) charges expected from November this year, my car-related expenses have gone through the roof.

Everytime I fill up at a petrol station, I cannot but envy people who drive smaller cars than mine. (Actually, a 1.6-litre car is considered as a small car in most countries. However in Singapore, it is considered as a medium car, possibly because of the relatively tiny size of our island.) Besides paying less for petrol, small car owners also spend less on road tax and maintenance. Small and micro-compact cars are therefore very popular in Singapore, especially in recent years.

Do not be mistaken, compact cars are not invented only recently.

I have seen early micro-compact cars on Singapore roads even in the 1960s when I was a kid. One example is the very cute Isetta:


One of the models had a 236 cc two-stroke engine and was meant to transport two persons. In comparison, some motorcycles today have far more powerful engines.

Perhaps the most unique feature of this car was that the only door it had was at the front. You open it very much like opening a refrigerator door. That is probably because the car was designed by Milan-based refrigerator manufacturer Rennzo Rivolta of Isotherm in 1953. However, you will probably not scoff at this little strange car if you know that it was once also manufactured by BMW.

Besides the Isetta, a common mini car in the olden days was the Fiat 600. This car had a 600 cc engine. There was also an earlier 500 cc model called the Fiat 500. The engine was located behind the car. In the second photo below, you can see ventilation slit-holes at the back which helped keep the engine from over heating.


But of course, an even more common compact car then was the Mini which also happened to be my first car. It was green. I don't mean only its colour but it was very economical with fuel and hence it was very environmentally-friendly as well:


In recent years, micro-compact cars have made a strong comeback, probably because of the reasons mentioned in the first two paragraphs of this article. Below are examples of modern compact cars which we see on our roads nowadays:


Germany's Smart Fortwo

The Smart Fortwo even spawned a "copy model" called from China (who else?) called "Noble", manufactured by Shuanghuan:


Can you spot the differences? Of course China does have original products as well - the Cherry QQ:


Japan finds it hard to take a backseat. (This is understandable because some micro-compact cars have NO backseat, haha.) Japan has the Mitsubishi "i":


And Subaru R1 (first photo) and R2:


As well as the Daihatsu Mira or Cuore as it is known here:


And of course, our very friendly neighbour does not want to be left behind as well. It has the Perodua Kelisa:


(Incidentally, the Perodua Kelisa was declared the worst car in the world by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson.)

Two weeks ago, I even saw a model I couldn't identify. It had a registration plate starting with "SFB" (which I have blackened out in the photo):


It looked like a vehicle from Mars, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it was going so fast along Upper Thomson Road towards the city that I could not keep up with it. Hence, I can't confirm if it was indeed a little green man driving the little green orange car.

Can any of you can identify it?

Up Yours?

Table in Today 25 Apr 2007 on what to expect for the impending GST increase

Singapore's Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be raised from 5% to 7% on 1st July 2007. From the same day, the Government will hand out a GST Offset Package which is a "set of comprehensive measures to help Singaporeans with the increase in GST, with more for lower-income Singaporeans". For my wife and I, we both get $200 help each. (Thanks for the implied compliment from the Government that we are not that poor but the reality is we are not very rich either.)

Theoretically, a $200 handout means that we can afford to spend more than $10,000 each after 1st July 2007 before wiping out the Government handout ($200 is 2% of $10,000). Now $10,000 sure sounds like a lot of money. However in practice, we would have used up the handout much sooner. Let me explain why.

A few months ago, Ya Kun Kaya Toast increased the prices of its drinks and toasts by at least 10 cents all round - about 10% increase.


A Sausage Egg McMuffin from McDonald's is now $3.50 instead of $3.10 before - about 13% increase.


My favourite popiah sold at a stall in a coffeeshop in my neighbourhood now costs $1.20 instead of the usual $1.00 - a 20% increase.

I don't earn very much, you know?

Perhaps most outrageous of all is that a can of Milkmaid condensed milk now costs $1.60 instead of $1.10 - a whopping 45% increase!

Granted, costs of labour, materials and overheads might have gone up but why must prices always be adjusted by at least 10% or more everytime? What I find hard to accept is the Milkmaid supplier's claim that the milk now "has more calcium in it", implying that the price increase is justified. Gee, I don't need more calcium, just give me back my old milk and charge me the same price for it.

I have yet to see a price increase that is limited to just 2%. The above are just 4 random examples which I quoted. There are probably dozens of other products which have their prices increased recently as well. Mind you, the above increases were effected even before the new GST rate kicked in. At this rate, you bet even bitter medicine is going to cost more. So it is better that you take it only once instead of twice (even though that might have been your preference in the first place).

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but if you are a businessman and are putting up new prices for your products because of the impending GST increase, have you upped yours yet?