You are what you drive? - Cycling is the way to go!

Akin to you are what you eat, I guess taking care of your ride shows the personality of the driver? I beg to differ. Driving a car you desire over what you can afford is probably the deciding factor instead of the specs under the hood or aesthetic reasons. Especially in Singapore where the cost of driving any vehicle is ridiculously more expensive than most parts of the world...which leads to a totally unrelated piece of serious information.

Increasing fuel prices have driven many to alternative fuels such as CNG or biofuels. And the rush to biofuels which in turn have driven prices of commodities like grain up. George Bush wants 15 per cent of American cars to run on biofuels by 2017, which will mean trebling maize production. Europe has a set a transport fuels target of 5.75 per cent from biofuels by 2010. As a result, the price of corn has begun to track that of oil quite closely. And because cattle and chickens are fed on corn – it takes 8kg of grain to produce 1kg of beef – the price has risen as well for meat. So riots are occurring all over the world as most vulnerable people are facing starvation as food shortages grow and cereal prices soar. It threatens to become the biggest crisis of the 21st century. All because of the need to drive.

How did a simple question of are you what you drive lead to such a serious topic of increasing food costs and possible worldwide famine? Well, I guess what led me to this serious post was that I wanted to indicate that my car is getting dirty, 2 weeks of neglect from being too busy and traveling, and the sunny days of May are here, it is covered with dirt and bird poo. And indeed if the car represents the driver, I am indeed a dirty boy! :P But what's more important is to drive safe and to drive less.

Which leads to the fact that Singapore should build more bicycle tracks for alternative mode of transportation other than for recreation - which will then show that the government is understanding and serious about world peace. As the Singapore government has so declared back in 1971 at the Commonwealth meeting.

The Declaration of Commonwealth Principles, 1971

Issued at the Heads of Government Meeting in Singapore on 22 January 1971

1. The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, each responsible for its own policies, consulting and co-operating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding and world peace.

So effectively by allowing alternative modes of transportation, we will cut down usage of petrol and the dependence of oil which will lower the need for biofuel which will then drive the price down...blah blah..which will lead to world peace.

So gahmen - DO YOUR PART!