SINGAPORE โ While most motorists inching through the causeway in relative comfort, 58-year-old manual transmission enthusiast Speed Goh proudly spent 120 minutes repeatedly depressing his clutch pedal, insisting the experience was "building character."
"Automatic is for people who want life easy," Goh declared before engaging first gear for the 4,713th time.
Witnesses say Goh travelled approximately 1.8 kilometres while performing what physiotherapists later described as "the world's longest left-leg workout."
"You see these young people nowadays," he said between gear changes. "Everything must be automatic. Automatic car. Automatic gate. Automatic toothbrush."
He then stalled his engine.
Twice.
According to his wife, seated beside him in an automatic SUV they had borrowed for the weekend but which Goh refused to drive, the answer appeared to be "yes."
"He had the option to take my car," she said. "Instead he chose this because he wanted to 'feel connected to the machine.'"
Several motorists in automatic cars were observed calmly sipping coffee, listening to podcasts and adjusting their air-conditioning while Goh quietly developed what doctors would later diagnose as "an extremely honed calf."
At one point, a Tesla driver pulled alongside and asked if he was alright.
"I'm having fun!" Goh shouted while visibly sweating through his polo shirt.
Experts say manual transmission enthusiasts often describe the gearbox as providing a "more engaging driving experience."
"He was certainly engaged," said one observer. "Mostly with first gear."
Despite arriving at Plaza Pelangi nearly two hours later with an aching left leg, Goh remained defiant.
"People today too soft already," he said, limping into the mall.
"Real men drive manual."