The evolution of car park wardens

Posted by noelbynature under Lifestyle
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You’re sitting in the kopitiam sipping your cup of afternoon kopi-si when you hear a voice screaming those dreaded three words: MATA LAI LOH!!! The warning sends half the patrons in the coffee shop scrambling as they rush to move their cars from their illegally-parked spots before a parking ticket can be issued to them. A familiar scene in Singapore? Peter Chan brings us back to the fascinating evolution of these car park wardens from the 1960s to today.

Unlike the traffic enforcers of today, car park wardens really started out as custodians of the car parks whom you paid your parking fees to. Peter Chan writes:

In the 1960s, the car park warden was responsible for issuing tickets to motorists in public car parks and at kerbside parking. Wearing one of those “Chinese funeral type” straw hats, she could be easily recognized by any motorist.

She had in one hand, a booklet of parking tickets, a stiff cardboard to provide hard support and to prevent writing through the carbon paper. She did not have the non-carbonized paper type but the Pelikan brand which came in black ink. The carbon paper was trimmed to the size of the booklet and inserted between the original parking and the duplicate parking tickets.

Of course, you’ll read in Peter’s post that when it comes to car park summonses, some things really don’t change. When you get a fine, it’s just best to bite the bullet and pay the fine rather than coming up with some excuse!

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