from the BMW showroom

Right now, almost 'live blogging' from the BMW showroom. My dad has decided to 'upgrade' from the Toyota Camry to a BMW 5-series. Similar engine capacity, similar shade even. One of the reason for the change of car, if not an 'upgrade', was due to the unique economic situation of car-ownership in Singapore - which encourages the change of cars every few years - possibly an environmental reason - new cars with better engines are less pollutive...

What bugs me though, is how divergent the mindsets are regarding things like car-buying and notions of success in life. BMW in SG, has been recognised as a status indicator - the 'made-it'-ness of the person who buys the car. They are happy not because of the change in car, parents are smiling because the new car is a BMW and that there are very few BMWs in the neighbourhood parking lot.

I couldn't care less. My idealistic self would like to deny these nearly-arbitrary notions of materialistic success. Also, I think about the cultural capital embedded in buying the car; buying a nice car does not equate to other notions of cultural capital... it still does not change who the person is, and how the person is embedded in some other social context...

I watch as my dad struggles with the technology that's in the car - heck, cars now come with this small screen and all, with additional controls. Although the incorporation of tech in cars is significant in its own right, what I'm interested in is how different generations have issues coping with tech as it comes along...