`Facebook` for neighbours

4
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thesundaytimes January 4, 2015
Electric unicycles are barred from
roads and park connectors, and their
use on pavements is frowned upon,
but that has not deterred users
Benson Ang
M
r Rick Tan has been drawing stares from
strangers on his commute to and from
work the last 10 months.
The reason: his ride, an electric
unicycle that is a curious hybrid
between the pedal-driven, single-wheel cycle and the
motorised Segway vehicle.
The sight of Mr Tan, 43, an IT manager, straddling a
single wheel upright and gliding hands-free through
crowds is a vision of the future of travel that has
arrived.
And he is not alone in turning to the one-wheel
wonder as an alternative to the crowded public transport system here.
While electric unicycles are not allowed on roads,
parks and park connectors and the authorities frown
on their use on pavements, the battery-powered
vehicles are nonetheless catching on here, say retailers.
Its users have been spotted riding them on various
occasions such as getting around large office buildings
or on grocery runs.
Its growing popularity here follows the rise of
electric unicycles in countries such as China and
Australia. A postal delivery company in Britain has
even allowed its postmen to deliver mail on electric
unicycles to increase efficiency.
While it may take practice for riders to find their
balance on the vehicle, users praise it for being nimble,
environmentally friendly and, yes, cool-looking.
Mr Tan, who has been zipping down pavements on
an electric unicycle since last February to get from his
Boon Keng estate flat to his office in Beach Road, says:
“I used to take the MRT but I didn’t like squeezing with
everyone else. I also get to work in 20 minutes instead
of 25 minutes by MRT.”
He adds of the stares: “People do look at me and I
usually just smile back at them.”
Marketing manager Chia Tien-yao, 37, who rides
one when he travels short distances such as from his
office to the MRT station or bus stop, says: “The
unicycle is convenient and portable. I wouldn’t be able
to take most bicycles onboard public transport, but
with electric unicycles, it’s no problem at all.”
Electric unicycles come without steering handles
and they rely on a device known as a gyroscope for
orientation and balance. Users can move forward and
backward or turn left and right by leaning their bodies
a little in the desired direction.
An electric unicycle from American brand
Solowheel, for example, can travel at speeds of up to
16kmh, more than three times a person’s average walking speed. It weighs about 11kg and can carry loads of
up to 113kg, as well as ascend slopes with an incline of
15 degrees.
Finding one’s balance on the unicycle, though, can
take more than a few tries.
Mr Alvin Chan, 43, a senior manager at a country
club, took three days to learn to balance on the vehicle.
He says : “At first, I often lost my balance and suffered several cuts to my ankles. But after a total of six
hours of practice, I never fell again.”
He adds: “I like that I don’t need to use my hands to
control the unicycle. This way, while riding, I can use
my hands to carry groceries or my iPad.”
These vehicles, however, do not come cheap.
Available in retail shops and online stores, they are
priced from $500 to more than $2,500. A folding
bicycle, in comparison, sells for about $200.
PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Mr Rick Tan, 43, takes 20 minutes to ride his electric unicycle from his home in Boon Keng to his office in Beach Road.
Balancing act
The high price tag has not stalled sales.
Mr Thomas Hoon, 37, a distributor of electric
unicycles since 2013, says he receives between 30 and
40 inquiries a month.
The growing number of electric unicyclists has also
led to the formation of an interest group, The
Wheelies.
Mr Hoon co-founded the group with three other
enthusiasts and it organises outings on electric
unicycles two to three times a week to places such as
the Marina Barrage, Haw Par Villa and Sentosa. Each
outing draws about 15 people between the ages of 25
and 42.
The greater usage, however, runs headlong into
safety regulations barring them from parks, park
connectors and roads here.
The director of parks at the National Parks Board,
Ms Kartini Omar, says: “Motorised electric vehicles can
reach high speeds. Signs in our parks and along our
park connectors have been put up to advise and
remind the public against the use of such vehicles.”
Those found using the vehicles in NParks parks and
park connectors may be liable to a fine of up to $5,000.
While there are no regulations against using electric
unicycles on public pavements, a police spokesman
says: “Singapore’s footways are not wide enough for
shared purposes. The risk of collision, resulting in serious injuries to the users as well as pedestrians, is
significant.”
Users found guilty of causing hurt to pedestrians
may be jailed for a year and/or fined $5,000.
And while the electric unicycle is allowed to be
brought on board public buses and trains during
non-peak periods, a spokesman for the Land Transport
Authority says bus drivers can bar the vehicle from
being carried on board if they deem it likely to cause
obstruction, discomfort or injury to any passenger.
The spokesman adds: “Cyclists are required to wrap
‘Facebook’ for
neighbours
Lea Wee
Soon after Mr Moh Hon Meng and his wife moved into
their Housing Board executive flat in Simei, he found
himself staring at the blocks of flats in his neighbourhood.
“I was wondering, ‘What if all the neighbours knew
one another? How different would our community
and lives be?’” he says.
That was more than 10 years ago. In March 2013,
the 46-year-old father of two started social networking
website BlockPooling.sg to allow residents in different
estates across Singapore to lend and borrow items for
free.
Within six months, 3,000 had registered as members and offered to lend 4,000 items.
Still, not enough people were using the website
actively.
“Our users told us that having just a lending tool
was too limiting and suggested that we offer more
ways for neighbours to connect and benefit. So we
decided to revamp the website,” says Mr Moh, a serial
entrepreneur and the chief executive of BlockPooling.sg.
There are at least seven local companies – such as
car rental firm iCarsClub and home-rental portal
PandaBed – that allow users to rent or share personal
assets, as the sharing economy here grows.
BlockPooling.sg’s challenge of drawing enough
active users is not unique to it.
To address the problem, Rent Tycoons, a website
started in January 2013 to allow people to rent almost
anything, prioritises what renters need and actively
scours for the items in demand.
“We felt that this was the way to get started,” says
its co-founder Fenni Wang.
Mr Moh, who still lives in Simei, launched the
revamped BlockPooling.sg last November. To build up
traffic, he introduced several “tools for neighbours to
connect”.
ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
(Clockwise from front) Mr Moh Hon Meng, 46, founder of BlockPooling.sg, Mr Teo Wei Siang, 32, business
development manager, and Mr Kevin Wong, 29, IT development manager.
Besides lending and borrowing things, members
can sell items and offer services such as babysitting,
tutoring and plumbing. They can also find out what
profession their neighbours are in and approach them
for contacts and references.
The revamped website also offers opportunities for
neighbours to socialise.
Members can use the “meet-up” feature to invite
neighbours over during festive holidays such as
Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. Through this tool,
Mr Moh hopes to encourage foreigners, who make up
40 per cent of the population, to get to know their
Singaporean neighbours better.
Neighbours can also use the “inform tool” to let
those in their block know in advance of any
inconveniences they might cause, for instance, when
they renovate their flat or hold big parties.
The website now has more than 5,700 members.
Mr Moh says he has sunk “a few hundred thousand
dollars” of his savings into the venture, but expects to
make money from it.
Describing the website as a “for-profit one, with a
social mission”, he says: “The more connected and
engaged neighbours are in using our website, the more
service providers would want to advertise on it.”
Registration is free for all, but those who want to
place advertisements have to pay.
In a bid to bump up the number of users, Mr Moh
plans to merge BlockPooling.sg with another of his
websites, ShareTransport.sg, a car-, bus- and taxi-pooling service with more than 22,000 users, at the end of
this month. Sharing transport is another way for neighbours to connect, he explains.
the pedals, handle bars and other protruding parts of
the unicycle at all times to prevent injury to other
commuters.”
Mr Hoon says most users know the rules, although
some feel they may be too restrictive.
He says: “As a group, we follow etiquette on using
electric unicycles safely. For example, we always call
out to pedestrians to make sure they are aware of our
presence before we overtake them.”
He adds: “The Wheelies will continue to engage the
relevant authorities on the use of electric unicycles in
Singapore. We hope that one day, we will be able to
ride them in parks and park connectors.”
[email protected]
Do you think the rules should be liberalised to
allow for greater use of electric unicycles? E-mail
[email protected]
He is confident that the uniqueness of his website –
a “Facebook for the neighbourhood” – will draw
enough advertisers for his team to make money in the
long run.
He says: “Most online advertising mediums are
‘national’ in nature. But those who draw their
customers mainly from specific neighbourhoods
would want online advertising mediums that are
‘hyper-local’. These would include real estate agents,
neighbourhood retail stores, tutors and part-time
housekeepers.”
He is also confident that people would want to go
on his website to connect with their neighbours for
“mutual benefit”.
“If you ask people whether they want to know their
neighbours for the sake of being neighbourly, they
would probably say ‘no’,” he says. “But if you ask
whether they want to know a neighbour who can be of
benefit to them – for instance, he can help them fix
their faulty electrical cable or lock, or babysit their
child – they would probably say ‘yes’.”
Those who register are linked immediately to their
neighbours who live in the same block and same
neighbourhood. The website lists 84 neighbourhoods
in Singapore.
Starting this month, the website will have a new
video campaign every month to promote its different
tools and initiatives. It will be working with various
commercial partners to give away free items.
Recruitment consultant Tay Cheong Soon, 43, who
signed up to be a member in November, said he offered
to lend a few things including a saw and a spanner, as
well as collect his neighbours’ newspapers when they
are away.
So far, there are no takers, but he is optimistic that
things will change when the website traffic increases.
Such a website has many benefits, he says.
“It would allow me to buy things in bulk with my
neighbours and get a discount. We can share neighbourhood news and alert one another, for instance, if
there are suspicious characters at void decks.
He is concerned about confidentiality though.
“Imagine if you accidentally post something offensive and people living in the same block can trace it to
you,” he notes.
Mr Moh says that the onus is on each member to be
responsible in his posting.
“The aim of our website is not to be anonymous,
but to allow neighbours to get to know one another,”
he says.
[email protected]