To drive a vehicle in Singapore, you must possess a valid Singapore driving licence, this applies to all citizens and permanent residents of Singapore and also foreigners who are residing in Singapore for more than twelve (12) months.
We don't have a car here as owning and running a car is prohibitively expensive and to be honest the public transport is so efficient and inexpensive it is largely unnecessary and doesn't make financial sense for us to buy a car. However we would like to have the option to do so if we ever change our minds and also we would like to be able to rent a car now and again.
In order to convert our UK licence to a Singapore licence we needed to pass the Basic Theory Test or BTT. To book the test you have to go in person to one of the test centres, fill in some forms, wait to enrol, book your test date and finally pay. This first visit took about 2 hours to complete!
Whilst waiting we could see learner drivers having their lessons on the special simulated road area at the back of the building, complete with a small hill to practice hill starts and parking bays.
All learner drivers have to pass their BTT before taking driving lessons and all learning has to be
with a qualified instructor.
Whilst watching the learner drivers I noticed the top of a huge golden statue just behind the test centre so on our way out from booking our test date we went to find it.
We found it in the courtyard of the Zu Lin Temple complex
The stone carvings on the entrance pillars where of dragons and mythical beasts, scary looking creatures to keep evil spirits out
The golden statue was not of Buddha as I first thought but the Goddess of Mercy or Kuan Yin, a bodhisattva in the Buddhist tradition
a laughing Buddha statue
and in the basement room another goddess; Guanyin, the one with many arms whom I had also come across in Chinatown, see previous post-'Chinese New Year Preparations'.
I love visiting these temples and each time learn a little bit more about the beliefs and symbols involved.
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We had been told by many people that some of the questions in the driving test (which is a computer test with 50 multiple choice questions and to pass you must get at least 45 correct answers) were rather strange so it was worth buying the training book and app and learning and practicing the answers.
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We had been told by many people that some of the questions in the driving test (which is a computer test with 50 multiple choice questions and to pass you must get at least 45 correct answers) were rather strange so it was worth buying the training book and app and learning and practicing the answers.
These are some of the questions that surprised us and sometimes made us laugh! See what you think are the correct answers..
A few weeks later it was time to go back to the driving centre for our test. This again took a large part of the day, checking in, hearing the briefing of how to operate the computer and then doing the test. 50 minutes is allowed to answer the 50 questions, after 12 minutes I had completed the questions pressed "submit" and the lovely words "Pass" came on the screen, I had got all 50 correct. A minute later NT satisfactorily completed his and we left the hall with a sense of success and relief.
After queuing again to complete the forms to apply for the licence now we had passed and before being given our certificates we had to watch a safety video. This is an extremely graphic video about the dangers of speeding, drink driving and reckless driving. It showed CC TV footage of actual crashes, photographs of injured and dead people and interviews with accident victims and their families. It was very thought provoking and rather sobering.
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So we now have our converted licences, we hope to find a good enough reason to hire a car and brave the busy roads to explore the furthest reaches of Singapore soon.
N.B the correct answers to the questions above according to Singapore are;
-Road accidents are caused by; "Neither of these options"!
-The reason you have a driving licence is; 'Because driving is a privilege, not a right'
-The Traffic Police Officer is signalling; 'Vehicles from his front and back to stop'
-Obviously the correct answer is that "drugs will have a similar adverse affect to alcohol on your driving", but it made me laugh that someone might choose the answer that too much junk food might!
-Flashing your beam lights may be helpful; on driving uphill
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