On Friday, I passed my 170-cc scooter driving test.
In the past, I had almost no motivation to learn to ride a scooter, or even when I had one, I would always want to postpone taking a lesson and kept making excuses for myself. For one, the prices of motorcycles and scooters in Macau are unreasonable. The same scooter (Yamaha FORCE 2.0) sold in Taiwan for NT$100,000 (26,000 patacas) is now selling in Macau for 40,000 patacas due to tax. I am also ashamed to admit that I didn’t know how to ride a bicycle until two years ago.
Well, these excuses are certainly more than cost and personal reasons. I applied for the driving exam and test last December. I took the driving theory exam in early August, and finally finished the driving test on Friday, and I now have to wait for four weeks before I am issued with a full driving licence. The whole process took exactly one year to complete, provided that you had the time to practise at least three days a week and did not fail either the exam or the test.
The long waiting time is one thing that makes everyone applying for the exam think twice, but it is even worse for someone like myself who constantly worries about the unpredictability in my life. I am always anxious that something unpredictable would suddenly jump out on important dates, such as job interviews and flights, and cause me to miss them. But while the flights are booked pretty close to the flight dates (relatively), the driving exam date appeared nearly six months after the application, leading to more frustration.
What’s even worse is the unrelenting driving tests, combined with the heavy time and money cost of re-taking them. Psychological factors suddenly become very overwhelming once you realise that failing means that you need to go to the practicing area several times at least to “face your shame” and practise again for the re-take.
For those who have not taken a motorcycle test. There are two parts to it: the first technical part requires the examinee to do multiple figure eights in succession going up and coming down a slope; and the second part is road skill test which is basically to see how well you know the driving rules and execute them.
Both tests are, unfortunately, very luck-based. A rainy day could mess up both exams badly. Scooter issues and a mischievous driver on the road are only some of the factors outside your control which can create disaster, not to mention your own performance will certainly be affected during the tense moments.
Still, lots of people, including me, are motivated to learn to drive a motorcycle or scooter, because it is convenient and saves time with relatively low costs, as much as the confusing high-tax charged by the government. I think practicality is always one of the biggest reasons for motivation, even though the test is pretty harsh in my opinion.
So, what motivates me to write this Young Post article about “motivation”? Well, I hope it is obvious right now – it is the frustration of getting a scooter driving licence. Retribution turns out also to be a pretty good motivation for me; and even though it usually ends with nothing or worse, it is pretty satisfying to write a rant on it.
This photo shows William (white helmet) driving a scooter earlier this month at the Driving Learning and Test Centre in Taipa.
– Photo: Lucius Ao Ieong
