Car wreckages and severe cases of vehicle vandalism are nothing new to Miss Aileen Tan.
After all, it is part of her job at a car repair firm to inspect all sorts of damages done to vehicles.
But she never expected to bring in her own vandalised car to her company's workshop.
Miss Tan's Hyundai Getz, just six months old, was viciously scarred by a vandal using paint remover.
The 29-year-old estimates that she may have to spend $2,000 to repair her car. It is an off-peak car and cost her $21,000.
Two Thursdays ago, after returning home from work at about 7.30pm, she parked the black hatchback at the open-air carpark on Hougang Avenue 1.
PAINT REMOVER
At about 6.30am the next day, she discovered that someone had poured paint remover on her car.
Miss Tan, a service adviser with automobile workshop Star Automotive, was horrified.
Much of the car's paintwork on all four sides had peeled off, leaving behind a mess of sticky patches and streaks.
The covers of the car's four headlights were also damaged.
Said Miss Tan: 'When I saw what happened to my car, I was shocked.
'I'm very particular about taking care of it because in my job, I see a lot of damage to cars. I feel pain when I look at the kinds of damage done to them.'
She called the police (see other report) and reported later than usual to her workplace in Bedok North.
She was so late, she had to use a $20 supplementary coupon so she could drive to work. Off-peak cars are supposed to be off the roads by 7am.
Said Miss Tan: 'I drove it to the workshop and parked it under the shelter to prevent any rusting as the paint had already come off.
'This is too much. I really love my car.'
Miss Tan, who lives with her 50-year-old mother, believes that whoever vandalised her car did so after 11pm that night.
'My mother parked her car at 10.30pm at the same carpark and didn't see anything wrong with my car,' she said.
'So the culprit must have vandalised my car after that.'
It was the second night in a row that Miss Tan had parked in the same lot.
She believes the culprit was going just for her vehicle as the lorry parked next to it was left unharmed.
Moreover, the paint remover had been carefully poured in a continuous line around the car.
'This can only be done slowly. It was not rushed. The person who did this had taken his own sweet time to do it.'
Licensed damage appraiser T Rajan agreed with Miss Tan.
Mr Rajan, 40, assesses damage suffered by cars in accidents or cases of vandalism for insurance firms.
After seeing pictures of Miss Tan's car, he said: 'Most of the time, vandalised cars are just scratched. (In cases where) paint remover is used, usually only one side of the car is affected.
'But in this case, the culprit made sure every (side) panel of the car, including the tail and head lamps, were affected.
'And he took his time to do it. Many vandals do it quickly to avoid being caught by the police.'
The problem is, Miss Tan can't think of anyone who might want to deliberately damage her car.
She said: 'I drive very carefully because this is my first car. So it can't have been the work of a road bully as I did not offend anyone on the road.
She also did not know if it could have been anyone she had encountered in her line of work.
Said Miss Tan: 'Whoever did this is a coward.
'If he has any disputes with me, he should discuss it with me face-to-face and not resort to such methods.'
Miss Tan has filed a claim with her insurer, NTUC Income.
Meanwhile, it's public transport for her.
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Vandal took his sweet time 
feel like piak-ing the person who did this 
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