there's something about ..... car park II

Earlier, I mentioned about the different car park systems in Singapore and how if you do not have sufficient funds in your cash card, you will have all cars piling behind you......

Well... that happened to me yesterday at TANGS.

I was there for about 1 hour and 20 mins and promptly decided that I have sufficient funds in my cashcard.

You see... everyone's optimism is different. Having $3.70 in my cashcard is enough for me to feel optimistic that THAT IS sufficient.

I mean... isn't sufficiency a relative judgement?

But one would ask... on a Sunday at TANGS, surely you would have reasons to feel otherwise?

I dunno. I mean... Suntec City would only be $2.10. Should I then have 20 feelings for 20 different malls? Even if it's $2 an hour, 1 hour 20 mins would at most be $3, well within my $3.70.

And so I started my journey towards enlightenment.

I knew I'm in trouble when I was stuck at the ramp down with all the cars in the queue before me. Someone else at the exit must be another optimist. You see... the way the car park is designed, when you are in the ramp, there is no other way out except the exit. Even if you decide to stop by the side, find the ATM to top up the cash card which is probably somewhere inside the mall, you can't do it. In other words, you are really stuck.

When I finally come within sight of the exit gantry, I was relieved to see a booth nearby where an attendant is inside probably reading newspaper, chatting on the phone, play Sudoko...

The fee.... $4.50!!!!!!

I have no choice but to go to the attendant to top up my card... but for reasons I can't explain, the machine wasn't working. It's like someone up there is trying to teach me a lesson. I probably spent about 5 mins there before the machine could work. By then, I have already seen a long line of cars queueing up.

Funny thing is... nobody was impatient enough to even make a light horn for the wait. This shows that such problem is getting more common.

Which brings me to the next question... why spend more money in new technology where it doesn't seems to solve any problems at all?

I mean.. you still need to have an attendant nearby in a booth when you are adopting a ERP styled car park system? Might as well stick to the old system.