CARS are parked back to back along the street, save for one empty space. It is taken up by a charred bin brimming with burnt incense paper.
'Who would dare move it?' said Mr Ricky Keok, 40, a business development manager.
He heads to Mosque Street every week to lunch at a steamboat restaurant there. But parking is a nightmare as shopkeepers and restaurant owners insist on reserving public parking spaces, whether for the loading and unloading of goods, or for their patrons.
'Of course I am frustrated. People are taking up space that doesn't belong to them,' he said.
Parking space is so precious along crowded side streets in areas like Chinatown, Little India and Geylang that all manner of objects - from dustbins and flower pots to plastic chairs and even bicycles - are being used to snag a spot.
This is illegal. Officers from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will first issue a warning to operators who flout the rules, after which they will be fined $400 if the warning goes unheeded.
Repeat offenders can also be jailed three months and fined $2,000.
Last year, 10 people were hauled to court for repeatedly abusing the use of parking spaces. So far this year, four people have been taken to task.
But despite the penalties and warnings, the problem persists, and some people have even made a living out of snagging a space for desperate motorists.
Such incidents recently prompted an irate driver to criticise the practice on citizen journalism website Stomp.
However, those who 'chope' spaces claim that they have no choice but to resort to such tactics.
A furniture store owner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Low, gets his wife to stand in the parking space in front of his store at Geylang Lorong 33.
He said he has not been caught because he calls his wife only when he is five minutes away so she can block the space without getting into trouble.
The problem is the lack of parking spaces, shop owners and motorists say.
Restaurant and pub owners say that even if they want to pay for season parking spaces, these are not always available. The URA offers season parking at selected areas for about $65 a month.
Mr Richard Yuen, 50, who runs a pub on Mosque Street, said the nearest places available for season parking are housing estates and shopping centres located about 200m away.
And some customers are just not willing to park that far away.
Said Mr Eric Ong, 36, who frequents Mosque Street at least four times a week: 'I don't want to keep walking back and forth to add parking coupons if I decide to stay longer... it's just too far.'
Some restaurant owners say they surmount the problem by setting up their own valet systems - but this raises costs.
Mr Lee Huat Kee, who owns a seafood restaurant on Mosque Street, said he has spent more than $20,000 since he set up a valet system two years ago.
Over at Temple Street, Mr Tay Ah Siok, 51, a lorry driver, offers himself as a parking 'cone' for a fee. Each time a car pulls up along the street, he stands at a vacant space and directs the car in.
In a single night, he can make about $20 in tips. 'If they want to give money I take. I don't force them,' he told The Straits Times, in Mandarin.
He has been warned countless times by the police.
One driver, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, said: 'It's not fair, it should be on a first-come, first-served basis.'
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