Julie Tan’s Got A Bike License… But You Won't Be Seeing Her On The Roads Anytime Soon

Well, it turns out that Julie’s always loved the biker chick aesthetic.

"I've always liked biker chicks, I think they're very cool, riding their bikes with their leather jackets. I’ve always wanted to have a bike license, but my mum doesn’t really want me to do so. She actually knows how to ride a bike as well, and she says it's dangerous out on the roads. Furthermore, I already have a car license, so she doesn’t get why I need a bike license too,” says Julie.

"I can't explain it to you, but I think it's a side of me that not many know. [People] always think that I'm like a girl next door, who’s sweet and demure, but I like cool stuff too. I'm quite adventurous as a person and I like snowboarding and diving, so of course, my love for bikes shouldn't come across as a surprise,” she continues.

Convincing Julie’s mum, who wasn’t too enthused about Julie taking riding lessons took a little extra finesse. But luckily, Julie had an "excuse" ready.

"So I'm signed under LNX Global, and I saw that Ah Ge [Li Nanxing] and Constance [Song], they have their licenses, so I went to my boss and asked if I could be part of the safe driving campaign and safe riding campaign that they've been doing. It was also a good opportunity for me to tell my mum that it's for work, and I told her that as an artiste I need to learn a lot of skills, and I think biking is one of them, so she couldn’t say no. And she was like okay lah, if you need it for work, then it’s fine. But every time before I left the house, my mum would tell me: "You have to be careful, and take note of the cars, because those who drive cars have the car to protect them [in the event of a collision] but you don’t.”

But it seems that Julie wasn’t quite able to convince her mum, who’d come prepared with her own “secret weapon” of sorts, to allow her to ride in Singapore.

"My mum is very worried [about my safety, so] I promised her that I won't buy a bike. It kind of scares her 'cos her friend bought a bike for her son, and the son got into an accident. And the parents blamed themselves, My mum told me she doesn't want to have any regrets if anything were to happen 'cos I'm her only daughter. You know, she pulled the parental guilt trip card,” Julie said.

"I didn't want to be stubborn about this, she let me take lessons and I think she really gave in to me. I don't want to push it and make her angry. While she's fine with me riding a bike during filming, she's not too enthused to see me out on the roads. But maybe, if I were to get my Class 2A license, and be able to ride [my dream bike,] a Harley, then she'll change her mind. Those bikes are bigger and my mum feels that they are safer. We'll see how it goes in these few years,” she continued.

And finally, one of the biggest takeaways from Julie's riding lessons is how it has made her “a more compassionate driver”.

”When we drive cars, we kind of take it for granted that the bike will watch out for us, but it actually takes both hands to clap, and it's a two-way street. We cannot expect that the rider will always look out for us, and we should look out for the riders as well. Now, I'm more understanding, and if the riders need to change lanes, I will slow down to let them pass through."

"Riding in Singapore is super hot, and most of the time, it's very dangerous to ride on highways. After I passed my test, I actually went on the expressway riding course. It made me realise that while it's fun, it's very dangerous as well 'cos there's a lot of big trucks around us, and we have to be very alert and aware of our surroundings.”

Photos: Julie Tan/Instagram, ComfortDelGro Driving Centre/Facebook