By CHEONG POH KWAN
RazorTV

RazorTV's cameraman Raju was about to make his first visit to the newly-open City Square Mall at Kitchener Road.

But just as he approached the entrance to the mall's multi-storey car park, two security guards were quick to stop him in his tracks. He was told to leave the building and look for a parking lot elsewhere.

The security guards had nothing against him. But their management has a policy against motorbikes.

Raju asked for a reason to the No Motorbike rule, but all he got was an impatient response from one of the security guards.

"I said cannot park means cannot park. You don't understand me."

Many motorcyclists who have been turned away in a similar manner are likely to bear a grudge against these commercial buildings.

They find that such a policy is discriminatory towards customers who come in smaller vehicles.

In Raju's case, riding a big BMW motorcycle did not give him any edge.

Not only was he turned away at City Square Mall, he was also barred from entering Sentosa on his motorbike.

"Singapore is a great place to have motorbikes. I'm surprised it is not more motorbike friendly," commented an expatriate who lives in Singapore.

She has also been turned away at the Sentosa's gantry. Her baby-blue motor scooter was the culprit.

Last year, about 100 motorcyclists signed an online petition requesting for access to Sentosa.

The petition, however, was not submitted to Sentosa Leisure Group as the number of signatures gathered were not significant enough.

But motorcyclists should be heartened to learn that their pleas have not completely gone unheard.

Although some commercial buildings like City Square Mall are determined to stand by their No Motorbikes policy, they are also in the process of putting up more prominent "warning signs" to minimise inconvenience to motorcyclists.

Sentosa has already installed a "No Motorcycles" sign at the start of the Sentosa Gateway at the beginning of this year. A similar alert is also up on its website.

City Square Mall will be putting up signboards to direct motorcyclists to alternative parking lots in the vicinity.

These commercial entities emphasise that they turn away motorcyclists out of safety concerns.

They also do not see motorcyclists as less valued customers with less spending power.

But if you think Singapore can afford to be more motorbike-friendly, do share your suggestions here.

Sometimes it pays to voice your grievances if you want more to be done. And meanwhile, don't miss Raju's eventful journey.

Catch him on his BMW motorbike on RazorTV, Four wheels good, two wheels bad.

For more RazorTV videos, click here.