Ms Mercy Goh has a big appetite for power and speed.
The 28-year-old boutique manager likes her cars fast and furious - starting with a Mercedes- Benz SLK roadster that her father bought her when she got her driver's licence in 2006 and then a Toyota Supra sports coupe during her university days in Melbourne.
After her return to Singapore, her dad, a retired managing director of an electronics manufacturing firm, bought her a racy BMW M3. Her current ride is a Porsche Macan S.
The BMW M3 was Ms Goh's daily drive when she was a public relations executive at Munich Automobiles, dealer for BMW M cars. Back then, she was a regular at track events and often went on night drives with fellow M3 enthusiasts, many of whom were customers who became her friends.
Apart from cars, her other love is luxury accessories. Her favourite brands include Hermes, Chanel, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent. She confesses that she has more luxury handbags and shoes than she can count. "I feel naked and incomplete without my accessories," she says.
In March last year, the bachelorette joined luxury online retailer Reebonz.com. A month into her new job, her office was relocated from Tai Seng to Raffles Place.
Limited parking space and downtown traffic forced her to give up driving her M3 to work. She takes a taxi or the train instead.
As no one in the family wanted to drive the 420bhp racer, she sold it and bought the Porsche crossover.
"Even though my parents and my brother have their own cars, the Macan S is a car which the whole family, including my mum, can drive," she says.
Asked why she picked the Macan S and not the entry-level Macan, she replies with a laugh: "I am always late, so a more powerful car can get me to my destination faster."
But she adds quickly and more seriously: "We must be responsible and not abuse what our parents have given us because they can just as easily take it away."
When she was younger, she would modify her cars (and sometimes even her father's cars) more extensively, but she has since toned down.
"I have learnt to appreciate the car as it is," she says, adding that some past modifications also resulted in electrical problems.
For the Macan S, she restricted herself to cosmetic changes, such as respraying the brake callipers and the "Porsche" nameplate pink - her favourite colour.
The Macan S has a suitable blend of sportiness and practicality. Ms Goh says it has plenty of room for groceries as well as her dog.
And to get more out of the car, she plans to sign up for advanced driving courses which Porsche conducts, including for winter driving.
While it would not come as a total surprise if she were to trade in this premium ride for another soon, she says with a grin: "Unfortunately, I can change the handbag that I carry every day, but I cannot change the car that I drive every day."
https://www.straitstimes.com/lifest...-goh-loves-her-pradas-as-much-as-her-porsches
