Some things never change – the lahs and the lors, our enduring love for going to the kopitiam in our shorts and slippers, and our habit of chope-ing spaces with tissue packs.

But some new defining characteristics are emerging, according to Her World magazine. From our tekan-ing of subordinates to our confidence in expressing our opinions, here’s a look at the constantly evolving, always surprising Singaporean.

Angry drivers

Road rage plagues us for several reasons. There are the blur-as-sotong drivers who seem blissfully ignorant of basic road rules.

Then there’s the constant struggle to find a carpark lot (or one that doesn’t make you pay through your nose) and the traffic jams on certain expressways (coming to a standstill on the Central Expressway on a Saturday afternoon – seriously?). And don’t forget the system of impossible-to-avoid electronic road pricing gantries (71 islandwide, as of February this year).

Yet stubborn Singaporeans still cling on to their cars, a clear sign that we’ll pay any price for convenience.

Bike fanatics

When it comes to hitting the big outdoors, we prefer to do it on two wheels. The numbers say it all. This year’s OCBC Cycle Singapore 2011, the largest local mass biking event, drew 10,065 participants (double 2009’s number). With our unrelenting heat and humidity, all we can say is: “Chiong, ah!”

Crowded and feeling the squeeze

First, there are the MRT cabins so crowded you spend your entire journey smushed against someone with bad BO. Then there are the commuters who deserve an Oscar for pretending to be asleep to avoid giving up their seats.

That’s probably why close to eight in 10 of us are dissatisfied with public transport, ranking us a miserable 18th out of 23 countries in the Frost & Sullivan Journey Experience Index. No wonder our faces are black before we’ve even stepped into the office.

To read the rest of this article, get a copy of the Aug 2011 issue of Her World, Singapore’s No. 1 women’s magazine. Her World, published by SPH Magazines is available at all newsstands now. Check out more stories at Her World online, www.herworld.com