Monthly Archives: June 2015

I love cars but I hated having a car

There, I’ve said it.

Top Gear puts a silly smile on my face but the reality of car ownership in Singapore is far less pleasant.

With my limited budget, I could only afford a 20-year-old Mazda MX-5 which needed extensive repairs. Furthermore, I was a vainpot with more money than sense (and I had very little money) so I changed the colour of the car, and its upholstery, which wasn’t strictly necessary.

The total cost of the car + interest on the loan was $41k. I got back $16k from selling the car, so that’s $25k gone. Add in road tax, insurance, and all the repairs and upholstery, and we’re looking at a total of $40k, easy.

That $40k would have covered 3 years of rent while I was in school. To say I regret it might be an understatement.

I did love taking the car out for drives. I didn’t enjoy maintenance and I certainly felt stupid paying for a car I rarely used, but at the time that I bought it, I didn’t anticipate going back to school. Hindsight is 20/20 but it doesn’t take away the fact that I was impulsive and took bad advice from an enabler.

Add to that the fact that I spent my Sundays giving tuition just to cover the cost of ownership, and it becomes increasingly clear that I couldn’t REALLY afford a car. There’s so much more involved than just the monthly instalments, and I personally am not the type to drive when I’m feeling lazy and can take an Uber instead.

All the same, am I looking forward to getting an ND? Oh yes, but that can wait till I’m nearing 40.

Back to School, part 6: The Pre-admissions Medical Exam

Way back in 2004, I did one pre-admission checkup so I knew roughly what to expect. In fact, I had it simpler this time around as I was a PR and didn’t need to get a blood test for the student pass.

The process was a tad chaotic though. I suspect they hired students to run the simpler stations such as the vision test and ferrying the documents from the urine test centre to the X-ray centre. As such, instructions were not clear at times. I had no idea how to wear the hospital gown because I’m accustomed to the ones that overlap and tie at the side, but they used the old-style ones which tie in the back.

At some point, the young man next to me was told that they couldn’t find his urine sample… and it’s not as though many of us can provide another sample so soon after emptying our bladder. They found it in the end, so it turned out well for him.

I was assigned to Dr Catherine Chua for the last part of the checkup. She asked if I was still being followed up for my lymphoma, and after I said yes, she ticked the “fit for admission” column so I could rest easy. I told her my specialist was at NUH, and when I gave her his name she related some anecdotes. It was fun. I’m sure she found my medical history interesting and a welcome diversion from the run-of-the-mill students she gets 90% of the time.

She was kind enough to enquire about the course and wished me well, so that’s one hurdle crossed for me. I did have my worries if they might consider me unfit for admission but I guess I was worrying for nothing, as usual.