Conversations (I)
Snippets from conversations I’ve had with friends that feel would make a great blog discussion! It’s the beginning of a series so we’ll see how it’ll last :) lol.
Scene: On the Federal Highway driving. Trying to get onto the Kerinchi turn off into Bangsar. Cars surround us. One car tries to cut in. Friend steps on pedal.
Me: Whoa.
Friend: I’m a Malaysian driver. Trust me.
As we ease at the traffic light that were green … then yellow …. friend steps on pedal to beat red light.
Me: You know, when I was in UK, most if not all drivers signal when they need to and they are always courteous.
Friend: I know. When I was in Australia, they all drive slowly too and there was hardly any problems on the road. They were so nice. But this is Malaysia. You have to drive like a Malaysian to survive Malaysian roads.
Is this really the case? Is it set in stone that Malaysian drivers have to be rude and generally unpleasant to deal with? I’ve only started driving full time a little while ago and I don’t understand why would anyone want to drive in KL. I mean seriously, short of it being a necessity because out transportation system is hell, driving is just so depressing. I swear I was a lot happier taking the LRT and avoiding the rush hour was extremely easy. Unlike, KL where rush hour is there 24-7.
After my friend said the last sentence I almost wanted to add, “Actually, we should be driving like how we learned overseas. Some people don’t have the luxury to have studied overseas and see how people lead orderly lives and drive courteously on the road. Isn’t it our obligation to inculcate this with family and friends at least? It will definitely make driving a more pleasant activity!”
But I didn’t.
lol.
I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t want to sound condescending. Neither did I want to appear holier than thou. I guess I wanted to do was challenge this perceived social norm that we Malaysians have grown to accept. I remember having this urge to tell my friend that everything that is shit about Malaysia can be altered by pure will alone. Maybe I should have, I’m not sure.
But back to Malaysian drivers. What’s with us on the road? Why do we always leave just in time for work thus forcing us to fight it out with whoever that gets in the way of this morning ritual for the employed. Seriously now. Is it so hard to leave home earlier? Is it that difficult to abide by simple traffic laws? Must we always be ‘kiasu’ on the road as though it is the only solution to life’s traffic problems? Is signalling so hard?!
Man, blogging about traffic is frustrating already. lol. I’m dread the drive to Parliament. What’s this I heard about hellish parking? :(
May 26th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I tot they’ve increased the parking space at Parliament? Take care of your car, and oh, your laptop while at Parliament. ;-)
Off-peak discounts for LDP? 3-4 am lah!
Yeah, driving sucks. Take the LRT. :-)
May 26th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Yeah I would love to drive like foreigners do, but you can see it in this way. If you be nice to everyone, you’re going to lose alot. Bullied like hell, thrown to the back of the queue.
Stopped playing nice about 3 years ago heh.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
dr tan: then what’s the deal with wanting to win all the time? getting bullied on the road is a battle of bruised egos lah. hero on the road means loser at work and in bed lah :P
May 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Everyone wants to reach home early to dine with family or spend more time with family after a long day of working. It’s so frustrated and stressed to be caught in the jam so some drivers choose to be a bit rude and aggressive in driving to get off the jam. It’s understandable…
Wondering whether those foreigners who stay long and drive in Malaysia are driving as courteous as they were in their home countries :P
Ya… Driving sucks… but the public transport in Malaysia is very poor… LRT is lousy compared with other countries, especially Hong Kong and our neighbour country Singapore. Long waiting time (especially KTM), poor ticketing system, poor interconnection with other public transposrt service providers (eg. no fully covered walkway connecting KL Sentral and monorail, poor integration of LRT and bus services…), no public toilets at some LRT stations…
AND, I REALLY DON’T UNDERSTAND why at Salak Selatan LRT station, passengers who alight at Southbound platform and head to Bandar Sri Permaisuri have to cross to the other side (Northbound platform) to exit the station and have to use another underpass to cross again to get back to the Southbound side. It’s inconvenient especially to OKU and some senior citizens. Why don’t they construct
an exit at the Southbound platform? It may incur a bit of additional cost but public convenience should come first.
Comparison of Hong Kong MTR and Malaysia KTM:
http://benghooi.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/2008/01/malaysia_ktm_co.html
May 27th, 2008 at 9:46 am
i concur :)
maybe it’s something some of our new wakil rakyats can take up. a joint and concerted effort to have ‘be nice on the road’ week to warm things up or something.
so many factors - too many cars, too poorly designed roads, etc etc, but the most important one is the human one of course: we have to work harder to be.. well, nice!
it comes down to that, we should be nicer to people. on the road and everywhere.
wow, how’s that for condescending :P sorry if a bit off.. :P :)
May 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I consciously try to be civilised. Let in a car or two from the side roads that have been waiting for ages to get into the crowded main road, for example.
But queue jumpers dont get that sort of treatment lah. Will make sure they dont get to stick a corner (and consequently, the entire car) between me and the car in front.
I was told malaysia has the one of the higest proportions of car ownership/ annual GDP under the sun. Have not verified that though.
Side note: a non-trivial proportion of the drivers in Tianjin are absolute idiots when it comes to road etiquette. No concept of ‘lanes’ (a 2 lane road will be used by one column of cars floating on the dotted line); at busy junctions sometimes cars will pile into the intersection, no one will yield and it turns into a stalemate for a good 30 seconds.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I would say “drive like a KL-lite”. Coming from Miri, I am scared as hell to drive here in KL. I can only drive from Setiawangsa to Carrefour Wangsa Maju (I used to live somewhere there). Currently staying in Ampang, I tell you I can wet my pants if you want me to drive and beat the traffic.
Ahhh, the trains and buses.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
who said malaysian drivers dont signal when they change lanes? they signal AT the same time they change lanes!! lol!!
by the way, australia does not accept malaysian driving license for conversion anymore. we need to take the whole theory test and practical again!!!
maybe their RTD people been driving in malaysia and scared the wits out of them!
haha