They say that Singapore is a fine city because you can get a fine for just about anything. When I started living in the Red Dot, I had already visions of policemen everywhere jumping from behind trees shouting "AHA!" whenever I crossed the street without looking left and right first. So far I've noticed the opposite. That rules are necessary but need to be enforced to mean something I experienced yesterday. The underpass from Parkway Parade to East Coast Park has large signs at the entrance to warn prospective bicyclists not to ride their bike down but to dismount and push the bike through the tunnel. I must say, the first time I crossed the tunnel I didn't see a good reason for this, as the tunnel is long and wide enough for bicycles. Yesterday however I changed my mind. I pair of kids came hurtling down the ramp on their ATBs ready to go to the other side. They obviously hadn't counted on the fact that there might be pedestrians in the tunnel and that their brakes where made in China. The combination of those two factors resulted in one bike coming down at me like a missile almost smashing into the wall making a bike-wall sandwich with me as the cheese. By jumping aside at the last second I could prevent turning myself into sandwich topping but the steering handle badly scratched my hand. The "no cycling, $1000 fine" sign wasn't damaged at all... My wife was more upset then me and wanted to call the police.
Where is a CCTV camera when you need one.? There are about 20 in each MRT station, but none in the tunnels which are much more prone to muggers, rapist and bikers smashing into innocent pedestrians. Anyway, the morale of this story: you can have a fine for everything but if you never collect, it doesn't mean anything.
