The search for parking space is a taxing yet familiar task faced by Southeast Asians on the daily.



It's not uncommon for drivers to spend up to an hour just to find a parking spot, especially in malls during festive seasons. Madness but that's reality. Southeast Asians are also spending more on cars –– a report by Nikkei Asian Review notes that car sales in the region in June this year jumped 6%.



So, what do you do when parking spots are scarce and you're getting increasingly desperate?

IMAGE: SAYS

Use your body.



Over the past few months, there have been cases of people in Malaysia and Singapore standing guard over parking spots in a bid to "reserve" them for their family or friends.



The most recent case, which happened in Singapore, took place on November 25 with the entire fiasco caught on video. Mothership.sg reported of the incident showing a hooded woman blocking a car from entering a soon-to-be-vacant spot. When honked, she flipped the bird.

Across the Causeway bridge, a woman had blocked a parking spot at Jumpstreet Asia in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia sometime in October. She stood over the spot and refused to give way.

IMAGE: SAYS/Facebook

Two months before that, social media in Malaysia was abuzz with a video detailing a heated exchange between a driver and a woman who tried to block a parking post for her friends in Mid Valley, a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. The woman later apologized for the mistake, though.

IMAGE: Facebook

The Malaysian government took notice of the occurrences and revealed in a Facebook post that it's actually illegal to reserve a parking spot with one's body. If found guilty, offenders will face a fine of up to RM2,000 or imprisonment of up to six months.

IMAGE: Malaysian Police Facebook