[wendychan]

That's right - Muslims are allowed to break the law on Friday, courtesy of LTA. They can set their minds at ease as they head for their mosques for worship after parking illegally on the road outside their place of worship.

Mindful of insufficient parking in the general vicinity of the mosques to cater for large numbers of worshippers coming by their own vehicles, LTA has, as a gesture of goodwill, allowed the rule not to be followed for a brief period of time, 'turning a blind eye' to illegally-parked cars, trucks, motorcycles and motor scooters on the street, and it's free parking!

A long line of parked cars is a common sight outside schools too. Motorists, parked on roads marked by double-yellow lines or a continuous white line, wait in line to pick their kids up after school, safe in the knowledge that they won't be ticketed.

In a certain country, I'd often come across cars double-parking on the streets outside schools, creating a bottle neck on the third, outermost lane. Traffic was often chaotic for as long as one hour before class was dismissed, even with traffic wardens directing traffic.

Over here, the cars move along in an orderly fashion on a single lane, creating minimal disruption to traffic flow. As demonstrated, rules can be broken without penalty in exceptional circumstances, to the benefit of certain drivers. It's a happy compromise of a sort between the needs of state and motorists.

Well, if you are all for the rules to be obeyed to the letter and be stringently enforced at all times, then it may inconvenience some drivers and may cause extraordinary despair. In extreme cases, it can even end in murder. Remember that compromise is an inevitable part of life.

there will never be "enough" parking for all
in any case, got 2 legs can walk then a little walking never hurt most people...

if you handicaped etc,  i can understand
but not otherwwise

[S I M T A N]

During Cheng Meng, most Chinese will go to cemetery and Mandai columbarium to pay respects to their deceased ancestors but nobody dares to park on double yellow lines leh!  Maybe they scared of Muslims lah!

The number of dwindling cemeteries can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Bukit Brown cemetery and those in the Lim Chu Kang area are the few remaining cemeteries. The former is accessible from Lornie Rd where graveyards are a little off the beaten track. Qing Ming participants driving on dirt roads and off-road trails with no road markings have no fear of being ticketed.

Another entrance is somewhere along the PIE, near Whitley Detention Centre where the great Mr Mas Selamat, the chief resident, made his famous
escape There people park their vehicles on the shoulder of the expressway, switch on the hazard lights, then scale the embankment and proceed to the tombstones to pay their respect to their ancestors.

According to my buddy Peter Yang who has a morbid interest in death, there's now a new ruling. For Muslims, graves will be exhumed after 15 years and remnants of eight graves will be put into one. For non-Muslims, graves in the Lim Chu Kang area will be dug up after 20 years and remnants put into an urn and send to a columbarium.

Sorry, I don't observe Qing Ming and have never been to Mandai Columbarium, and therefore I'm in no position to comment on the road and parking situation there. Based on the information given by my buddy (see below), this columbarium appears to be a well-controlled place under surveillance. There's a pedestrian walkway and a roadway leading to the carpark with ample parking for cars, motorbikes and coaches. Under these circumstances, no one dares to anyhow park their vehicle, as you mentioned.

"Mandai Columbarium/Crematorium. Address: 300, Mandai Road. Only one entrance/exit. Another entrance/exit is strictly for pedestrians only. Situated at bus stop 40871. During the All Souls month (Qing Ming), vehicle owners have to do a e-booking beforehand, indicating time of visit and schedule. No e-booking, no entry. Very hectic time of the year. Very crowded. Easier to go by public transport. Even Grab or taxi takes ages to get in and come out again." - Peter Yang, affectionately referred to as Peter Alexander Young