I was stopped at the Causeway on my way to Kuala Lumpur yesterday. No, I wasn't limping and I didn't look like a dishevelled fugitive. But I was wearing a balaclava and that could have made me stand out of the crowd.

'Why are you wearing a sock over your head?' the immigration officer asked suspiciously.

'No, no', I mumbled from behind my white Sparco hood. 'This is a balaclava, the kind Formula 1 drivers wear under their helmets. I'm on my way to the Malaysian Grand Prix and I wanted to get into the F1 mood.'

Suffice to say, we didn't share any F1 trivia or talk about our favourite teams. But that could change closer to September. Because 2008 is when Singaporeans get to join the most glamorous race in the world and become 'F People'.

Only those who live in countries which host F1 can rightfully call themselves F People. We used to think we were. Every March since 1999, we travelled north to watch a live GP race and pay to hear an F1 car screaming past at 300 kmh. But we were not true F People. We were merely guests. The experience, the emotions and the enthusiasm generated by the F1 circus were vicarious at best. The Malaysian GP is, after all, Malaysia's race; we were only spectators, in every sense of the word.

But not anymore. Come Sept 28, the glamour and glitz of F1 will finally come to town and we will be transformed into genuine F People. Not all of us will get to dress up and strut down the pit lane before the race but at least some of us will finally learn how to pronounce Bernie Ecclestone's last name correctly.

And as newly minted F People, Singaporeans will show that we are not mere followers but also trendsetters. To set us apart from the rest of the calendar, the inaugural 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix will establish a new standard - it will be the first ever Formula 1 night race.

In fact, it has been reported that Malaysia is preparing for a night race next year. The Sepang International Circuit supposedly has to invest at least US$5 million to install the necessary lighting, and one proposal it is studying comes from the contractor of the Qatar Grand Prix.

But why look so far? As fellow F People, we are willing to share our technology. We even have various packages. For example, one cheaper option is the SCDF's Polyma Lighting Unit. This is a trailer-mounted system, which can also be used for any impromptu manhunts.

Being F People also means we should become keen F1 enthusiasts. This entails attaining deep F1 knowledge and expressing strong F1 opinions, including these predictions for the outcome of tomorrow's Malaysian GP:

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is known as the Iceman because of his Mentos-cool demeanour. In fact, he is so proud of the nickname that he recently had it tattooed on his left forearm. His red car, however, is as nervous as a chicken at KFC and prone to the occasional lack of reliability. We are not sure if he will finish the race tomorrow but we are certain he is thinking of getting another tattoo - the name and number of a good mechanic.

Lewis Hamilton is the sensational F1 sophomore from McLaren who as a rookie last year, lost out on the world championship to Raikkonen by just one point. An unbelievably confident young man, he always emerges from his car with a positive attitude and the right spin, even though he lost the race. We believe he will find himself on the podium tomorrow. If he doesn't, we are sure he will say the setback has made him stronger or something like that. What we are not sure is whether he reads Deepak Chopra or Anthony Robbins.

The two Japanese teams, Honda and Toyota, have poured in massive amounts of money into F1 over the years. But their cars remain only slightly faster than the roti canai man fleeing on his bicycle from the angry customer who found a suspect piece of meat in his curry. Why those hundreds of millions of dollars were not used to make nicer, less plasticky Japanese sedans, we do not know. What we do know is that they will continue to lag behind the rest.

Fernando Alonso must surely be the most frustrated driver this season. The double world champion should be driving the best car on the grid but instead, he only has an uncompetitive Renault to tootle along in. But as in Melbourne, he could surprise everyone by finishing in a position higher than expected. The sulky Spaniard could become the slippery Spaniard at Sepang and wriggle his way to the front of the field. We don't know the reason but somewhere, somehow, we believe extra virgin Spanish olive oil is involved in all this.

This article was first published in The Business Times on Mar 22, 2008.