Yesterday, I saw a strange parade on the TV news. It was a parade of old cars, which had been used for more than ten years or driven over 200,000 kilometers. The aim of this parade was to recognize Koreans waste of money.
        Most Koreans want to have a better looking car than the one they have now, because the car is used as a symbol of wealth and authority in our society. At first, ordinary people buy a small car, and a few years later, they want to have a bigger one, even though their first car isn't worn out. This has become a common phenomenon in Korea.
        I know having ones own car is convenient; however, we also have comfortable public transportation--buses, trains and subways. All transportation fees are so much cheaper than in other countries. If we compare the bus fees in some European countries with Koreas bus fees, they are about two times more expensive than Koreas. In addition, this peninsula doesn't have enough oil; accordingly, the owners of cars have to pay a lot of money to maintain their own cars. Nevertheless, most Koreans want to have their own car, and if they have one, after that they want to have a new one as quickly as they can buy it.
        The news said a Korean car's average life is just three and a half years. It's a big difference with the U.S.A., England, Germany, etc. These countries are such rich countries. However, a car's average life in the U.S.A. is seven years, in England it is nine years, and in Germany it is ten years. They are never embarrassed about their old cars. We should learn their mentality, because we are not as rich as these countries.
        Korea doesn't have any car that has a long history like a BMW. We have a few big motor companies like Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo, etc., but they don't have famous old car models because they change their products' designs quickly. The consumers have the biggest liability for this problem. They want to see new products endlessly.
        Koreans like big cars in this small country. It is a bad fixed idea. So traffic jams have become more and more serious. A car is just a transportation instrument. Firstly, we don't have to define a car owner's wealth and authority by his car. Secondly, as you know, more powerful and luxurious cars use more gasoline than many older cars. If we use a car more than ten years, we will pay less than half in taxes and less money to buy gasoline.
        We have to know the most important function of a car is as a means of reliable transportation. There is no specific time to change your car. If your car doesn't have any problem, you should use it longer. On the other hand, if it's not working anymore, it's time to buy a new car. Also, we should use comfortable and cheap pubic transportation. The most important thing is we have to throw away our fixed idea about the value of cars.