The day I got my driver's license.

My friend Alex sent me a sms today, happily announcing that he's obtained his Class 2B license. That's a license you need if you want to ride a motorbike in Singapore. Alex already has Class 3B license for driving a car. I don't know what he'll try next - learn to drive a lorry perhaps? Or maybe a plane? Some people simply love driving.

Unlike Alex, I don't have a Class 2B. If I'm younger, I'd go get a motorbike license like Alex, too. But I figure at 40, my reflexes and level of alertness is no where near a young man of 20 or 30. I'm afraid time is too little and too late for me to ever learn how to ride a motorbike.

But like Alex, I do have a Class 3, and it was obtained not without much sweat. The first time I took up driving, I was barely in my mid 20s. Young and inexperienced, I flunked the driving test, not once, but twice. The driving examiners who failed me all had stories to tell. One of them commented that I drove like a snake; the other said he couldn't pass me because he has a moral obligation to protect pedestrians from a menace like me! My oh my... That was so many years ago. And I was so affected by the remark of the last examiner that it put me off learning to drive all together.

As the saying goes, "time heals all wounds" and time flies too. Eleven years later, married and with two kids, I was still without a driver's license. When I decided to pick up driving again, I was past my mid 30s and the "new millennium" was approaching. I reckoned if I don’t get my license then, I never will.

So, I signed up for driving lessons again in Comfort Driving Centre and, much to my delight, passed with flying colours within a span of 4 months and at the first attempt at that! I got a demerit points of 8. A demerit points of 20 would have meant a failure. So, I think I did pretty well.

I can still remember vividly the day I took my driving test. Sitting in the waiting area awaiting my turn, my eyes studied the many driving examiners going in and out of the room. Some were with testees who had just taken their test and you know they have flunked by their crest-fallen faces. Other looked like as if they have struck lottery! You looked at these examiners, most of whom are "retired" traffic policemen, and you tried to figure out the handful that looked "friendly" or appeared benevolent. You went on to hope that one of the the friendly looking ones be your examiner, and most of the time, the odd was against you. You ended up with one that got the “Tua Pai Kia” look and you knew you were doomed!!

On the day in question, July 8 2002 to be very precise, I think God must be smiling on me. I was fortunate enough to be tested by an examiner, who is not only friendly, but who tried to make me feel at ease by making mindless conversation like "wah, the weather is very hot today hor?" I still remember his name - Insp See Thian Lye. He even gave me advice as I drove along, telling me not to run over the curb or he would have to fail me.

And failed me he almost did because I drove into the wrong lane as I made a right turn. Fortunately, Insp See was obviously in a good mood. He told me what I did was wrong and dangerous and said that I must be extremely careful when I went on the road. When I heard this, I sort of guess I must have passed; but part of me was still not quite sure. Then he scribbled sometime on the Class 3 Driving Test Assessment Checklist and told me to go collect my license. That was one of the happiest moments of my life!