the off-peak warriors

Read abt the opc phenomenon in st the other day (opc = off-peak cars. These cars can only be used from 7pm-7am on weekdays, from 3pm on Saturdays, and the whole day on Sundays). Apparently there are now 25,000 of such cars on the road today, more than 3 times the figure just a decade ago. I remembered way back when the opc was first introduced, my dad bought himself a brand new opc car – a proton saga. We called it the ‘batman’ car, cos it can only move about at night. We had the proton for only a while – that was a period when my dad was changing cars like he was changing his shirts. I thought the opc phenomenon had died down, cos we didn’t see many of those on the roads back then. Which made sense cos even an opc car then would have cost a bomb – the coe prices then were not as low as they are now. With coe prices at record lows now, an opc car could cost as low as $25,000 (for smaller models like d kelisa). which makes it all the more affordable now. which would also explain the rise in the number of opc cars on the road.

Our swift is an opc, and we’re damm happy with it. Some have asked why we had bought an opc when we could jolly well afford a ‘normal’ one, and our response has always been: “why not?”

We got a straight $17,000 discount off the price because it’s an opc. And our road tax is just a mere $80 compared to the $880 that we’d have to fork out every year if it’s ‘normal’. I don’t drive to work - there’s no way I would do that cos parking would cost me $250 a month (yes my office parking is EXPENSIVE, even for staff), and that’s before all the erp and cbd charges that I’d have to pay. And spider doesn’t need to drive cos he has his trusty bike which he would still insist on riding even if we have a ‘normal’ car. By the time we go anywhere, it’d be after 7 anyway, when we can use the car. And even then, we sometimes take the bike cos riding on the triumph is just so nice and parking is never a headache with a bike, right?

Which begs the question: why do we even get a car in the first place?? :P

Well, the car does come in handy when we have stuffs to carry. Like when we do our groceries. Or when we do our shopping. Or when we had to transport my stuffs from my home in simei to cg. And it comes in handy when we’re driving people around, like my mil for instance, or my nieces and nephews, or even my own brothers. And it comes in handy when we’re tired and don’t feel like riding on the bike – cos riding on a bike requires a lot of concentration from you yah, not to say driving doesn’t lah, but it’s relatively easier.

There are instances when you need to use the car during the ‘peak’ hours though, and that’s when the opc coupons come in. these coupons cost $20 each, and they look real ugly cos they’re huge and gaudy. But that’s precisely their purpose I suppose, since they’re meant to be spotted easily on the roads.

All in, we’re very happy with our opc. It does the work, and most importantly, it’s cheap! My only wish is that they allow the cars to be used on Saturdays from 7am onwards, instead of from 3pm onwards as is currently the case. That would be happiness! :)