“Breaks my heart to see him cry…” — Wife shares her husband’s tearful moment saying goodbye to his Honda Civic as COE expires

SINGAPORE: The tender goodbye one man bid his beloved vehicle was caught on camera and shared online by his wife.

It has since racked up more than 3.2 million views, though non-Singaporeans have been puzzled as to why the man can’t keep the vehicle.

“My husband had to let go of his car today,” TikTok user @ntshatan wrote on the video, which shows the man leaning against the side and back of his Honda Civic and crouching by its front tyres as if to say goodbye.

“Breaks my heart to see him cry… but that’s the reality of owning a car in Singapore. See you some time @sunshine,” the TikTok user wrote.

@ntshatan

breaks my heart to see him cry… but that’s the reality of owning a car in Singapore. see you some time @sunshine ❤️‍🩹

♬ stuff we did – LBFD

And this is not the first time she’s paid tribute to her husband’s love for his car, having gotten him a farewell cake a month ago.

@ntshatan

see you again, @sunshine 💛

♬ See You Again (Piano Arrangement) – Alexandre Pachabezian

Her husband also posted about it on Instagram. “This is the sweetest, funniest, most thoughtful and unexpected surprise I have ever gotten, and it actually made me cry,” wrote @izzraimy.

And lest we think his attachment to his car seems a little extra, he explained it had been instrumental in their relationship, to the point of being the reason for the couple even meeting in the first place.

Moreover, he noted that the Civic kept him safe and sound “throughout the THOUSANDS of kilometres up and down the North-South highway to be with her.”

Touchingly, he added, “And through that, I found life. I found a new beginning. I found a little bit of light.”

And like his wife, he addressed the car (which also has its own IG account and likely has more followers than many of us mortals), thanking @sunshinecivic for all the memories and saying he would miss it.

“Shine bright like a diamond forever ❤️,” he wrote.

On @ntshatan’s TikTok video, many commenters asked why her husband won’t keep the Civic despite his apparent attachment to it.

A number of Singaporeans who commented on the post explained about the city-state’s COE system. The Certificate of Entitlement gives a person the right to own and operate a vehicle for 10 years.

A COE can be quite pricey, which is, quite naturally, difficult for would-be car owners. The COE was instituted to regulate the number of vehicles in Singapore. /TISG

Read also: More cars have their COEs revalidated in the first 5 months of 2024 as owners avoid rising new car prices