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Genevieve Jiang
Thu, Apr 03, 2008
The New Paper
Park here at your own risk

NEXT time park on one side, OK!

Those words were written in both English and Chinese on the bonnet of Miss Sheena Cheong's car.

And to make matters worse, someone had smashed both side mirrors on her car.

Miss Cheong, 21, had parked her car, which she co-owns with her boyfriend, at a nearby lane as her condo carpark was full.

Unfortunately, the undergraduate left her lime-green Honda Fit in such a way that there was very little space for the other cars parked behind her to move out.

The vandalised car was the price she had to pay for her mistake.

She found her vehicle damaged on Monday at about 10.30am, after it was parked overnight.

Miss Cheong's boyfriend, Mr Ivan Lau, 21, a private student, told The New Paper: 'When she went to retrieve the car on Monday, she was shocked to find that both side mirrors had been twisted off... and the words, written in black ink.'

Mr Lau said Miss Cheong had gone for a late-night movie with her friends on Saturday.

She returned to Sherwood Towers along Bukit Timah Road, where she lives with her parents, at about 2am on Sunday.

UNDER RENOVATION

Said Mr Lau: 'The condo carpark is currently being renovated, so there is limited parking space. When she returned home late that night, there was no more space.'

So Miss Cheong decided to park along Bukit Timah Avenue, a two-way road about a minute's drive away.

Said Mr Lau: 'Because of the renovations, many of the residents had also parked their vehicles there.

'It was fully occupied at the time and she didn't know where else to park.

'She called me to say that she would park next to some of the cars, but would leave enough space for other cars parked further in to drive past.

'I told her to leave it (the car) as I didn't want her to drive around late at night to look for parking space too far away from her home. She told me to go there next morning to help move the car.'

Mr Lau lives with his aunt at Toh Tuck Road in the Upper Bukit Timah area.

Mr Lau said he was out drinking with friends on Saturday night. The next morning, he had a hangover and could not make it to Miss Cheong's home.

But he did not tell her this.

Miss Cheong's mother, who declined to be named, said her daughter was home all day on Sunday, but didn't check on the car because she assumed that Mr Lau had moved it.

So on Monday morning, when she was about to go to school, she was shocked to find her car damaged and vandalised.

The couple made a police report immediately.

Said Mr Lau: 'I acknowledge that she was wrong to have parked in such a way, but technically, smaller vehicles were still able to drive past her.

'But vandalising someone's vehicle is totally out of line and challenging the law.'

The couple bought the two-year-old second-hand car three months ago for $41,800.

They share the running cost of the car.

And this is not the first time the car has been vandalised.

Mr Lau claimed that three weeks ago, the right back door of the car was scratched at the carpark of his home - for no reason at all.

He claimed the car wasn't blocking traffic.

He said: 'It's been really bad luck. We only just got the car and already, it's been one disaster after another.'

The couple have yet to take the car for repairs, but estimates that repainting the car and fixing the mirrors would cost close to $1,000.

Said Mr Lau: 'This is a hard lesson. It'll definitely teach us not to park indiscriminately in future.

'Even if we may have to walk a little further, it's better to find a proper parking spot.'

Anyone convicted of vandalism can be fined $2,000, or jailed three years and given eight strokes of the cane.


 

 
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