Motormouth: The CNY car is a blessing and a curse

Having a car to drive during Chinese New Year is great, even if driving the vehicle exacts a bakkwa-heavy price in dollars and sense.

The dollars aspect is fairly straightforward and applies to various ways of getting a CNY car of some sort - you beg (car companies perhaps), borrow (from friends and family), or steal (as in getting a rental/leasing car for a steal, with no big debt thereafter). 

As long as I can somehow chu che (出车 - get the car out on the road) in time for CNY, impressing families and friends wherever they see me driving it for festive home visits, I would feel lucky and prosperous - hopefully luckier and richer than whoever I am foolishly trying to impress during the best two-week period for flashing an automotive ang pow packed with cash (in the form of COE, ARF, PARF, etc).

Whether you took delivery of your very own Chinese new EV for Chinese New Year, or collected your rented/leased car which is not really yours, or managed to get going with a car-sharing service at peak-period rates, the main objective has been met - to have a car to drive during CNY.

Of course, paying for the privilege is way less fun than enjoying it, with different cost-benefit ratios for the fortunate drivers behind the wheel. 

Leaving aside the super-rich enthusiasts who purchase/change/collect supercars like a costly hobby, we have the mostly ordinary motorists whose driving machine is parked on a personal scale of affordability between affordable & comfortable, and barely affordable & pretty uncomfortable. 

If the person drives/lives within his or her means, then all is fine and the wheels are turning smoothly. If the person stretches his transport budget or busts it, then the road is bumpy and the wheels are falling off. 

For instance, a civil servant with an equally sensible Toyota or Honda and a Casio watch might be in a better financial position (more cash, less flash) than an average insurance/property agent with a COE-renewed coupe and a random Rolex. 

If you’re a renter, whether occasionally for short-term pleasure during public holidays or permanently for long-term work up to seven days a week as a “pirate taxi" driver, the rental agreement is probably cost-effective enough, otherwise you wouldn’t have signed it in the first place.  

In any case, with the car key in your pocket, even just temporarily till the rental vehicle goes back to its rental company, all the associated expenses of driving are nothing more than necessary irritations. These become less irritating when offset by any tech-enabled vehicular monetisation such as ride-hailing, GrabHitch, and Lalamove.    

Anyway, before this CNY-inspired story starts to ramble due to excessive CNY bakkwa in my system, here’s wishing our dear readers a Happy New Year of the Fire Horse - with or without the horsepower of a car to drive during Chinese New Year. 

Hitting the road to visit relatives during CNY doesn't need Prancing Horses - it only needs just enough horsepower under the bonnet to get you there.

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