Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: Car modding in Singapore hits a road bump
Excerpt:
There goes the "Bao Pass Scheme" for vehicle inspections, said my buddy, Ryan, when I told him that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) had begun a probe on vehicle inspectors for bribery."Bao Pass" means "Sure to Pass Inspection".
According to news reports, the vehicle inspectors were suspected of closing one eye (and sometimes even both) to illegally modified cars.
Car modification is very popular here, despite the almost draconian laws we have in Singapore against any kind of Boy Racer mods. I believe the popularity of modding one's car comes from the sheer price of cars here. I mean, if you paid what is the GDP of a small Third World country for your ride, wouldn't you want to customize it to your tastes? After all, you are going to be paying off that car loan for the next seven to 10 years of your life. What's a few thousand more dollars for a bad-boy exhaust or tinted windows, right?
But this is Singapore and we have rules and rules must be followed or the sky will fall and the space-time continuum will rupture, thereby unleashing anti-matter that will consume our very souls. (cont'd)
