Ferrari driver complained of lack of roads here for high-speed driving

SINGAPORE - Mr Ma Chi, 31, who passed away after his red Ferrari crashed into a taxi while he was speeding to beat the red light, reportedly told an ex-colleague that he had no intention to stay in Singapore long-term as there was no place to drive his supercar at high speeds.

"The Lion City's too small, with no roads for driving at high speed," he told former colleague Zhong Yi in 2009.

According to The Beijing News, friends had mentioned that Mr Ma liked to drive in the middle of the night because there were less cars on the road.

The Straits Times reported that he owns another luxury sports car - an Infiniti, which costs at least 400,000 yuan (S$79,600). He keeps the car in his native province of Sichuan.

According to the English daily, Mr Ma first came to Singapore four years ago with his wife and child in 2008.

Friends said he was a hard-working and righteous person who worked as a financial investor. He was also applying for permanent residency in Singapore.

He died at the scene on May 4 while cabby Cheng Teck Hock and passenger Shigemi Ito died in hospital.

Mr Zhong said he himself had been in a car accident back in 2003, when he had been driving too fast and suffered a concussion from the accident.

He told Beijing News that he regretted not telling Mr Ma about, and sharing lessons learnt from the unfortunate experience.