Singapore will be hosting the inaugural F1 Night Race next week and they hope to bring in more tourists and show the world that we are not just a small red dot in this world, but also a small blue dot. Profits are expected to be over S$77 million and the excess profits will be used as paper.

The usual city roads are transformed into a race circuit. The once busy roads are now lined with barriers and barricades that will guide the racers to the finishing line, but the roads are still busy by the way. The Singapore leaders have employed an ingenious way to reduce the number of F1 racers that will be racing on Race Day as "Singapore has a spatial constrain problem, and we can only support 6 to 7 racers at a time only."

One of the methods they used is the strategic placement of ERP (Expensive Road Payments) gantries. Racers will be instructed to place an In-vehicle Unit (IU) in their cars so that payments can be made conveniently instead of "having to stop, take out a wallet, fishing the notes out and handing them to an officer." This new policy has certainly affected the heart of Lewis Hamilton who complained that he "may not want to complete the race and will be using other roads to complete the race if he is forced to."

AfiQ: What does it feel like to race with the conscious mind that the more you win, the more you pay?

Lewis Hamilton: It certainly sucks. I tried to get out of my car and sprint the whole race but I was tired after three rounds, then I tried to use road bumps to launch my car over the ERP gantries but the gantries are very tall! The first time I attempted this, I failed miserably as my car started flying instead.

AfiQ: So what happened after that?

Lewis Hamilton: Nah, was just kidding.

AfiQ: Youre damn irritating.

If the cashcard of a racer has run out of money, the racer will be disqualified and will be sent to jail for tax evasion. The ERP gantries will also serve as starting lines and finishing lines and even checkpoints as they are very prominent. The Esplanade will be used to act as pit stops so that drivers can enter the theater and watch some dramas before heading back to their cars.

To attract more racers to race (paradoxical to my second paragraph, but never mind.), the racers are given EZ-Link cards that have a stored value of over 6 dollars so that they can use the efficient bus services to complete the race in case their cars broke down. Bicycles are also provided. Taxis will not be available as taxis are generally expensive and the racers are poor.

Traffic policemen will be deployed everywhere along the circuit to arrest those who go against the speed limit. This is almost similar to Need For Speed: Most Wanted. But not exactly the same. There will be zebra crossings at some points of the circuit to allow the spectators to cross the track during the race.

If it rains during the race, the racers will be diverted to the Kallang Stadium where they will be racing on the 400m running track and also inside the multi-storey car parks to depict realism. As an alternative, they could be given an umbrella but they must pay.

Hot babes serving as barricades to prevent cars from crashing into the wall behind.

__________________________________________