This is the best summary I could come up with:
Singapore has a 10-year “certificate of entitlement” (COE) system, introduced in 1990, to control the number of vehicles in the small city-state, which is home to 5.9 million people and can be driven across in less than an hour.
Including COE, registration fees and taxes, a new standard Toyota Camry Hybrid currently costs S$251,388 ($183,000) in Singapore, compared with $28,855 in the US.
In 2020, when fewer people in Singapore were driving, the price of COEs dropped to about S$30,000; a post-Covid increase in economic activity has led to more car purchases while the total number of vehicles on the road is capped at about 950,000.
The rocketing price puts cars firmly out of reach of most middle-income Singaporeans, putting a dent in what sociologist Tan Ern Ser said was the “Singapore dream” of upward social mobility – having cash, a condominium and a car.
Singaporeans have been hit by persistent inflation and a slowing economy, and some are selling the cars they bought when certificate prices were low to make a profit.
Jason Guan, 40, an insurance agent and father of two, said he bought his first car, a Toyota Rush, for S$65,000 in 2008, including the price of the COE.
The original article contains 389 words, the summary contains 202 words. Saved 48%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
I’ve never heard a more perfect term than “Certificate of Entitlement.”
That did, Singapore has one of the most well developed mass transit systems in the world, so if there’s anywhere you can live without a car…
Singapore is known for it’s low crime rate. Corporal punishment is widely accepted. Caning is used not only to punish criminals but also as a disciplinary measure in schools, the military, and domestically. You can find rattan canes for sale in the grocery store for about 50 cents.
Yeah, but what relevance does that have about car prices?
When the CoE gets so high you opt for caning instead /shrug
With an area smaller than many US counties and the second highest population density of any country, that’s not exactly the big win you’re making it out to be.
that price is too high! /s
I would have thought lemmy wont root for gaining privileges with more cash.
this is a good thing, other countries should do it too
Other countries like Singapore, sure. Countries where you’ve got to go 20-25 km just to buy basic groceries, fuck no.
I lived in Singapore without a car, there is no need to own a car. I used public transport and ride sharing without ever feeling that having a car would have improved my experience. In Hong Kong it was the same, and I lived in the Northern Territories, however in Sydney we had a car even though public transport was great, because its a big fucking country. Now in Penang, Malaysia there is no usable public transport, so a car is absolutely essential.
20-25 km to buy groceries means there should be public transport available to get you there. Or it means that your villages and cities are shittily built to not have neccessities within walking distance.
And in the countries where there is no such public transport, they still shouldn’t implement such a law until they get their public transport in order.
Has nothing to do with shittily built, public transport for 5 people that’s available around the clock isn’t something that’s even remotely feasible, nor is it economical.
Apart from that, of you think like that, you’re part of the problem. Where do you think the groceries will come from in the future? From farmers that go about with public transport?
I’m disabled and live among farms with no immediate public transport… I don’t think other countries should try this. If I couldn’t afford a car, I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.
