Choping a Parking Space in Singapore: When Etiquette Collides

A tissue packet can reserve a food-court table in Singapore. Can a person do the same for a parking space?

A report about a woman standing in a Chinatown parking space set off an argument about exactly that. A witness described her waving away approaching cars while she held the space for another vehicle.

I did not initially find the idea especially terrible. In food courts, I have seen a phone, a bag or even a wallet left on a table while its owner orders food. This is “chope”: an informal way to reserve a place. Other diners generally understand the signal.

The car park exposed the limit of that comparison. Drivers waiting for a space may expect the first available car to take it. A person standing there changes the queue without bringing a car. What looks like ordinary reserving from one side can look like jumping the queue from the other.

I am interested in that disagreement about etiquette, rather than treating a comments section as a legal ruling. We agree that a small object can hold a table. A whole person turns out to be less convincing when the space is meant for a car.