This is what happens when you believe humans should be inherently good and don't check the board for the hourly car park rates.

A motorist received a rude shock when he paid S$22.80 for 94 minutes of parking at the newly-renovated Compass One shopping mall in Sengkang on Sept. 10, which qualified as parking after closing hours:

The receipt showed that he parked his vehicle during the mall's after hours just before midnight on Friday and left the car park at 1.32am -- a grand total of 94 minutes.

Suburban malls in Singapore typically charge a tolerable S$1.50 to S$2 an hour for car parking, as they peg their rates to prevailing costs of parking at surrounding public car parks.

However, the catch is that malls typically prohibit overnight parking by shutting off their car park entrances because untended vehicles are generally a liability, or in Compass One's case, making it prohibitively expensive to deter motorists.

And it's not like the mall is sneaky about it. The S$20 surcharge for vehicles left in the mall's car park after closing hours is displayed at the car park's board and also on the mall's website:

CARS

Monday – Sunday & Public Holidays (7am to 11pm)

S$1.40 for the first hour

S$0.70 per half hour for the second hour

S$0.80 for every subsequent half hour

MOTORCYCLES

Monday – Sunday & Public Holidays (7am to 11pm)

S$1.40 per entry

[...]

Notice:

All charges are inclusive of GST.

A surcharge of S$20 is payable for vehicles left in the car park after closing hours.

The management accepts no responsibility for theft, damage or other misdemeanor howsoever caused to vehicles and their equipment or contents therein whilst in this premise. Vehicles are parked at the owner’s risk.

So, it's just a matter of whether motorists are aware of it.

However, as comparison, Marina Bay Sands charges a flat rate of either S$7 or S$8 for 12-hour overnight parking, depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend, with a maximum cap of S$26 for every 24 hours:

7pm - 7am, Monday to Thursday: S$7 flat rate

7pm - 7am, Friday to Sunday, eve of public holiday & public holiday: S$8 flat rate

Max charge: S$26 per 24 hours

Moral of the story is: Don't assume everything works according to logic in Singapore.

Because these days, nothing makes sense.