‘Human but pretends to be tissue paper’ says netizen of uncle who choped parking space

SINGAPORE: A woman took to social media to air her grievance over an older man who stood in a parking spot to physically reserve it.

In a post on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Friday (Mar 31), she called him “human but pretends to be tissue paper,” in reference to the uniquely Singaporean habit of chope, marking a space for one’s own to reserve it for later use.

“Uncle (passenger) sent to hunt around car park for a lot, and claimed that waiting for a long time justifies chope-ing behavior,” wrote a Facebook user who goes by Sarah May on the platform, posting a video of the encounter with the older man.

Many in Singapore are known to chope tables at food courts or hawker centres, but the habit has spilled over to reserving parking spaces, using flesh and blood instead of tissues.

Other netizens commenting on Ms Sarah’s post appeared to sympathize with her.

Some wondered if the “human tissue paper” is becoming a new trend. 

The video of the uncle was also shared on the @sgfollowsall Instagram page, and the response from netizens was very similar.

Earlier this year, a netizen called out a driver who appeared to use his elderly mother to chope a parking space.

“The car park is not even full. Pls advise your elderly mother not to chope car park like this. It’s dangerous to herself,” wrote Facebook user Ms Choi YW on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE page on Feb 5.

The Independent Singapore has reached out to Ms Sarah for further comments on the matter.

/TISG

Car driver uses his elderly mother to ‘chope’ carpark space at AMK Hub