Have you ever got lost whilst driving around. Well, I have, and several times too - once in Tampines, and a few times in the Bin Tong Park area. Sure, I had a road directory with me. But, it wasn't of much use. I mean, who ever plans to get lost? So when I am lost, everything else doesn't quite click together. I can still recall, anxiously fumbling through that thick and difficult-to-keep-open road directory and at the same time trying to keep my hands on the steering wheel. I finger the map and before I know it, the map is continued on another page far removed from the page I am fingering. Anyway, eventually, I gave up trying to use the map and started trying my luck at finding a way out. It was plain trial and error that finally worked for me.

   Along comes TransitLink's TRAVEL MAP. I have no trouble keeping its maps open. And it's so convenient that I don't feel, what's the word - yes, frustrated, anymore. A quick glance is all that is needed for me to find a way out of that maze of a place known as Tampines New Town. How I wish this map had been published years earlier! Now, I live in Hougang and depend on buses to get me around. In my line of work, time is precious. I need to move around new and unfamiliar places in Singapore (Singapore is not exactly small, you know). Many a time I get lost. It's no laughing matter. But, with Travel Map ' 99, I just need to pinpoint my present location, look around for the nearest bus-stop and then run my fingers over to the location I wish to be at. I check the bus service numbers at the nearest bus-stop there, and match the numbers with the ones at my present bus-stop. Then, I board the correct bus and reach my destination in the minimum of time. No more boarding any bus my sixth sense tells me will take me to my destination and then finding me changing bus, again and again. 

   What I particularly like about their map is that it allows me to trace the route of a bus service number on the map itself. I can finger my way on the map to see just exactly where the bus will take me to. I don't have to read any confusing tables. A picture is worth a thousand words. I am not the only one who finds this map useful. A lot of real estate agents possess one. Salesmen too have a copy. I believe tourists will find this a boon. The whole island is divided into 28 popular zones, such as City North, Bukit Timah /Holland and Orchard/River Valley. The user doesn't need to piece together a few pages just to see a map of a zone. There's no way anyone can get lost in Singapore when this map is with him/her. I would personally recommend every car to have a copy in it. I mean, it really is useful. It even has symbols on it to tell us just where the nearest food centre, polyclinic, or neighbourhood police post is. Housewives planning to enrol their children in schools near where they have moved to will be glad to know this map also shows the locations of schools. There's even a road index at the back to help the user. It only costs S$6 and I am told they have already sold 40 000 copies. Wah!

   What more can we ask for? In fact, to borrow the phrase, we should not leave home without it.