Back on September 6, 2004, I wrote a post titled “Cycle to work in Singapore?” where I shared my decision to start commuting by bicycle. At the time, I was experiencing frequent dizziness from physical inactivity, but I knew I was hopeless at sticking to a gym routine. I needed a workout that was built into my daily life. Because our roads felt incredibly dangerous back then, I compromised: I bought a 8.8kg JZ88 folding bike and combined my rides with the MRT to get from Yishun to Toa Payoh.
Looking back, what started as a desperate personal health fix quietly became the single best financial, physical, and lifestyle decision of my life. By choosing not to own a car for the last 22 years, I estimate I’ve saved roughly SGD $400,000 – saving about $16,000 annually on car loans, insurance, road tax, petrol, and parking. That is literally enough to buy a new 3-room HDB flat in Tengah today. Furthermore, my health screening results today are as good as they were 22 years ago.
But today, this 22-year streak of not burning a single drop of fuel for my commute has taken on a much heavier, national significance.
The 2026 Energy Shock
As you all know, we are currently navigating a massive global energy crunch. The war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have triggered what the International Energy Agency calls the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”. Oil prices have surged by more than 60%.
In his recent national address on April 2, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong explicitly warned of the severe consequences if these supply routes remain constrained, and he urged all households and businesses to take practical steps to conserve energy and reduce unnecessary consumption. He rightly pointed out that “National resilience does not depend only on the government. It depends on all of us”.
While the government is actively securing alternative LNG supplies and working with partners like Australia to keep our supply lines open, we must also do our part to reduce demand. There is no more practical step to slash our reliance on imported fossil fuels than transitioning short-to-medium commuter journeys from cars to bicycles.
Turning Crisis into Opportunity
History shows us that energy crises are the ultimate catalysts for building cycling infrastructure. We look at Copenhagen and the Netherlands today as cycling paradises, but in the 1950s and 60s, they were heavily auto-centric, with city planners prioritizing highways over bikes. It was the 1973 global oil crisis—which abruptly quadrupled gas prices and forced car-free Sundays – that sparked massive public demand for change. The Dutch and Danish governments used that crisis as the undeniable justification to reclaim road space from cars and build the permanent, separated cycling tracks we envy today.
Singapore is facing our own “1973 moment.” Every kilometre travelled by bicycle instead of a car saves fuel for our nation and builds our resilience against future geopolitical shocks.
A Call to Action for LoveCycling SG
As a community of over 40,000 cyclists, we have the numbers and the voice to make a real difference. Here is what we can do together right now:
1. Take the “Zero-Oil Citizen” Challenge I challenge you to try a multi-modal commute (using a folding bike and the MRT) or cycle your full route just one day a week. Experience how liberating it is to bypass traffic, avoid parking fees, and entirely opt-out of the current anxiety at the petrol pump.
2. Advocate for “Pop-Up” Emergency Bike Lanes During the COVID-19 crisis, cities like Paris and Guangzhou rapidly rolled out temporary, protected bike lanes to keep their cities moving safely. We need to urge the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to do the same here. We should target roads with excess carriageway space—like Haig Road and Geylang East Avenue 1 and 2—and push for modular physical separators like bollards or flexible delineators. These are low-cost, fast to install, and minimize disruption to motorists while safely accommodating new cyclists.
3. Write to Your MPs Parliament is currently actively discussing how to cushion Singaporeans from the Middle East conflict’s impact, with 32 MPs filing 62 questions regarding fuel price spikes and energy diversification. They are actively looking for solutions. Write to your local MP and respectfully remind them that protected on-road cycling lanes are a low-cost, high-impact form of infrastructure that permanently reduces our vulnerability to global oil shocks.
The strait of Hormuz has just reminded us all of the true cost of car dependency. Let’s use this crisis to finally build the safe, resilient, and green cycling city we’ve been dreaming of since 2004.
What are your thoughts? Will you try the Zero-Oil commute this week? Share your experiences in the comments below!