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http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/...109-320796.html Confessions of a parking warden Enforcement officer says she is being 'watched' to make sure she does her job. -TNP Joyce Lim Tue, Jan 10, 2012 The New Paper Madam Tan starts her work with a bang every day. There is not one car park in Singapore that is not checked by enforcement officers, says Madam Tan. When drivers spot her, they literally bang the tables and tumble over their chairs as they make a dash to their cars, hoping to get there before Madam Tan does. These are drivers who try to cheat the system by not displaying valid parking coupons or illegally parking their cars. Madam Tan, an enforcement officer in her 50s, declines to give her full name for her confessions to The New Paper on Sunday. A retired civil servant, Madam Tan has been working as an enforcement officer - better known as a parking warden - for more than five years. She usually starts her day at one of Singapore's busiest coffee shops. Hawkers will yell when they spot Madam Tan in the vicinity. Some drivers will hurl expletives as they run to their cars. Madam Tan confesses: "I feel so bad to show up before these people can finish their food. The minute I arrive, they panic, abandon their lunches and run to their cars. "Some would call out to me, 'Tolong aunty, give chance! Give me five minutes to eat.'" To which, Madam Tan would reply: "You spend at least five minutes waiting to have your food order taken, 10 minutes for your food to be served, another 10 minutes to eat and five minutes to go to the toilet. Why don't you display a 50-cent coupon?" "I am just doing my job," Madam Tan would tell the drivers. Parking warden myths debunked! Click on thumbnail to view. Story continues after photos. (Photos: ST, TNP) She is familiar with all the excuses that these drivers come up with. But she can only tell them that she has a job to do, and she is being "watched" to make sure she does it. "All enforcement officers have GPRS in our mobile phones. Our bosses will know if we are at our designated locations at the specified times," explains Madam Tan. "There are also auditors dressed in civilian clothing roaming the car parks to make sure that we are working." Madam Tan reveals that hotspots targeted by enforcement officers are usually those at neighbourhood centres and car park lots near popular coffee shops and Singapore Pools outlets. For instance, she has caught many offenders at the car parks of Block 632, 633 and 634 at Bukit Batok Central. There is not one car park in Singapore that is not checked by enforcement officers, says Madam Tan. Next >> MYTHS DEBUNKED Not even "ulu" (deserted and far-flung) residential estates, where there are only four car park lots and industrial areas. But because those lots are so out of the way, enforcement officers would go there at only a specific time of the day. Madam Tan says: "Many people think that we are out to issue as many summons as we can in a day. That is not true. "My job is to educate the public. This is Singapore. People should know that everywhere you go, you need to pay, even for parking your car." Madam Tan also debunks the belief that enforcement officers have quotas to meet and get a commission for every ticket they issue. She reveals: "We get a basic salary of less than $800 a month. But we get incentives like transport allowance and performance bonus. "Good performance does not mean issuing more tickets. It is about reporting to work on time, getting no complaints or appeals for the tickets issued." That is why Madam Tan is always careful when issuing tickets to offenders. She confesses: "I would rather cancel the ticket than to have the driver file an appeal or file a complaint against me later, which reflects badly on my work performance. "But once a ticket has been issued, there is no way for me to cancel it on the spot." Madam Tan reveals that she issues an average of 30 tickets a day. While she feels sorry for offenders, Madam Tan feels that she is inefficient when she issues just 10 summonses a day. Managing angry and unreasonable drivers is the biggest challenge in her job. She is numb to the verbal abuse hurled at her by these drivers every day. "I will try to explain to them why a summons has been issued. Some drivers actually say 'thank you' before driving off. That is the greatest satisfaction I get from my job," says Madam Tan. But there are also those who threaten her, and some have even knocked her down with their vehicles - all over a $30 fine, says Madam Tan, showing this reporter the scars on her arms and legs. All they have to do, says Madam Tan, is to explain to her why they did not display a valid parking coupon. Madam Tan then keys in their comments into her electronic system. When these drivers send in their appeals later, chances of their fines being waived are much higher as there are already records of their explanations with the authorities, she explains. SECRETS OF THE TRADE RELATED STORIES

I was stuck behind a slow moving lorry at Tampines Road, just after turning in from Tampinese Ave 10. Those who are familar with that road knows, it's single lane two way traffic, which means not supposed to overtake. But the prospect of being stuck behind a lorry moving at less than 40km/h for that whole stretch was too much to bear, after checking there's no oncoming traffic, I floored the gas pedal on 2nd gear and went to the opposite lane to overtake the lorry. Wifey was with me, and I guess I scared the sh&t out of her I was just able to make it back to the correct lane just when a Swift was on the way towards me. Hope I didn't cause him any alarm... if I did... thousands apologies. Also thousands apologies to the lorry uncle.... don't know what got into me... Anyway, next time I'll avoid that road if possible, it's not meant for the impatient.

I am mini-itx......... Sorry to everything.... My real identity is mini-itx. I shall now ban myself from MCF.

Someone forwarded this mail to my email and I find it worth sharing with you guys here "On my wedding day, I carried my wife in my arms. The bridal car stopped in front of our one-room flat. My buddies insisted that I carry her out of the car in my arms. So I carried her into our home. She was then plump and shy. I was a strong and happy bridegroom. This was the scene of ten years ago.The following days were as simple as a cup of pure water: we had a kid,I went into business and tried to make more money. When the assets were steadily increasing, the affections between us seemed to ebb. She was a civil servant. Every morning we left home together and got home almost at the same time. Our kid was studying in a boarding school.Our marriage life seemed to be enviably happy. But the calm life was more likely to be affected by unpredictable changes. Dew came into my life.It was a sunny day. I stood on a spacious balcony. Dew hugged me from behind. My heart once again was immersed in her stream of love. This was the apartment I bought for her.Dew said, You are the kind of man who best draws girls eyeballs. Her words suddenly reminded me of my wife. When we just married, my wife aid, Men like you, once successful, will be very attractive to girls.Thinking of this, I became somewhat hesitant. I knew I had betrayed my wife. But I couldn t help doing so.I moved Dew's hand aside and said, You go to select some furniture,O.K.? I ve got something to do in the company. Obviously she was unhappy, because I had promised her to go and see with her. At the moment, the idea of divorce became clearer in my mind although it used to be something impossible to me.However, I found it rather difficult to tell my wife about it. No matter how mildly I mentioned it to her, she would be deeply hurt. Honestly,she was a good wife. Every evening she was busy preparing dinner. I was sitting together. Or, I was lounging before the computer, visualizing Dew