Confessions of a parking warden
By Joyce Lim
Madam Tan starts her work with a bang every day.
When drivers spot her, they literally bang the tables and tumble over their chairs as they make a dash to their cars, hoping to get there before Madam Tan does.
These are drivers who try to cheat the system by not displaying valid parking coupons or illegally parking their cars.
Madam Tan, an enforcement officer in her 50s, declines to give her full name for her confessions to The New Paper on Sunday.
A retired civil servant, Madam Tan has been working as an enforcement officer - better known as a parking warden - for more than five years.
She usually starts her day at one of Singapore's busiest coffee shops.
Hawkers will yell when they spot Madam Tan in the vicinity. Some drivers will hurl expletives as they run to their cars.
Madam Tan confesses: "I feel so bad to show up before these people can finish their food. The minute I arrive, they panic, abandon their lunches and run to their cars.
"Some would call out to me, 'Tolong aunty, give chance! Give me five minutes to eat.'"
To which, Madam Tan would reply: "You spend at least five minutes waiting to have your food order taken, 10 minutes for your food to be served, another 10 minutes to eat and five minutes to go to the toilet. Why don't you display a 50-cent coupon?"
"I am just doing my job," Madam Tan would tell the drivers.
Not even "ulu" (deserted and far-flung) residential estates, where there are only four car park lots and industrial areas.
But because those lots are so out of the way, enforcement officers would go there at only a specific time of the day.
Madam Tan says: "Many people think that we are out to issue as many summons as we can in a day. That is not true.
"My job is to educate the public. This is Singapore. People should know that everywhere you go, you need to pay, even for parking your car."
Madam Tan also debunks the belief that enforcement officers have quotas to meet and get a commission for every ticket they issue.
She reveals: "We get a basic salary of less than $800 a month. But we get incentives like transport allowance and performance bonus.
"Good performance does not mean issuing more tickets. It is about reporting to work on time, getting no complaints or appeals for the tickets issued."
That is why Madam Tan is always careful when issuing tickets to offenders.
She confesses: "I would rather cancel the ticket than to have the driver file an appeal or file a complaint against me later, which reflects badly on my work performance.
"But once a ticket has been issued, there is no way for me to cancel it on the spot."
Madam Tan reveals that she issues an average of 30 tickets a day.
While she feels sorry for offenders, Madam Tan feels that she is inefficient when she issues just 10 summonses a day.
Managing angry and unreasonable drivers is the biggest challenge in her job.
She is numb to the verbal abuse hurled at her by these drivers every day.
"I will try to explain to them why a summons has been issued. Some drivers actually say 'thank you' before driving off. That is the greatest satisfaction I get from my job," says Madam Tan.
But there are also those who threaten her, and some have even knocked her down with their vehicles - all over a $30 fine, says Madam Tan, showing this reporter the scars on her arms and legs.
All they have to do, says Madam Tan, is to explain to her why they did not display a valid parking coupon.
Madam Tan then keys in their comments into her electronic system.
When these drivers send in their appeals later, chances of their fines being waived are much higher as there are already records of their explanations with the authorities, she explains.
SECRETS OF THE TRADE
1. Always say "sorry" to angry drivers before trying to explain to them why the tickets were issued. Talk to them the way a mother would try to comfort and soothe a crying baby.
2. When issuing a ticket to a driver for not displaying a parking coupon, key into your electronic gadget the things that you see on the dashboard, like toy figurines or tissue boxes. That will prove that you have thoroughly checked that there was no coupon on the dashboard before the ticket was issued.
3. Today, there are many citizen vigilantes roaming the streets. To avoid being accused of accepting bribes from drivers, do not sit down at any coffee shops to have a drink or chat with anyone when you are in uniform.
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This article was first published in The New Paper.
