Motorist.sg's parking coupon stunt wins praise
Team from Motorist.sg to be honoured for giving away parking coupons
On April 25 and 26, motorists in the Bugis area were treated to a nice surprise.
A team of four from auto concierge platform Motorist.sgwalked from North Bridge Road to Lavender MRT Station, and placed parking coupons on vehicles with coupons that had expired. They gave out $120 worth of coupons.
Motorist.sg chief marketing officer Jake Ler, 29, told The New Paper: "We were inspired by many other kindness movements around the world, and we wanted to do one in Singapore to show that it is not hard to be kind to our fellow drivers."
On Friday (May 19), the group will be honoured by the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), as part of the Kindness Day SG 2017 Appreciation Dinner.
SNEAKY
The four had planned to sneakily follow a parking warden as he made his rounds but were discovered.
Miss Shafi'ah Abdul Samad, 24, who is part of Motorist.sg's marketing team and was involved in the campaign, said: "The parking warden was supportive of our idea, and he even let us tag along while he continued his patrol."
They made a video of the act and posted it on Facebook on April 28, which is also International Pay It Forward Day. It has since received more than 139,000 views.
One of the recipients of a free parking coupon, Mr Muhammad Ibrahim Dawood, told TNP that he was shocked to find a coupon when he returned to his car after praying in a nearby mosque.
He even offered to return an unused parking coupon as a token of gratitude.
Said Mr Ibrahim: "I am very grateful for their gesture of kindness, and I understand their message of taking care of each other as fellow motorists."
Mr Ler admitted the group was surprised by the amount of positive feedback they received.
A few days after posting the video, they received a message from SKM telling them they would be inducted into the Kindred Spirit Circle.
It is an initiative by SKM to honour Ground Up Movements (GUMs) that promote the message of kindness and address specific social issues to the various communities.
This year, a total of 11 GUMs will be inducted during the Kindness Day SG 2017 Appreciation Dinner, which will be held at Stadium Riverside Walk tomorrow.
Ms Michelle Tay, associate general secretary of SKM, said: "In the driving sphere where we have seen much ungraciousness displayed online, we hope to encourage more positive behaviour.
"Hence a simple act of kindness, like giving an extra parking coupon, could make a driver's day."
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