RTD director was reported to have expressed surprise that many road users were flouting the laws during the CNY holidays season. He personally photographed 93 motorists cutting Qs, overtaking at double lines, using road shoulders and so on….
I was surprised too. But for a different reason. I was surprised that he had managed to get so few of the motorists on such a long drive. Every minute on Malaysian roads, there would be traffic rule breakers. Anyway, it is good for him to be on the lookout even during his holidays, and for that he should be commended.
Anyone driving in Kuala Lumpur would have noticed the lawlessnes of our drivers. I have blogged so many times on this.
ANyone who drives in KL at any one time would have no trouble noticing at least some motorists flouting traffic rules. Cutting Qs are common and it has become a habit to many motorists. For these people, their time is so much more precious than others that they can gain time at the expense of the others.
If you have a chance to drive round a roundabout during rush hour, you would have noticed the dare-devilness inside Malaysian Drivers. Everyone would try to ramp through. There is no such thing as ‘the right side car has the right of way to pass first’ rule anymore.
Nevermind that risking your car and your life would only save you a few seconds of time. Nevermind that it would be faster for everyone to move if they observe the decency to let cars from the right side pass first… Malaysians like to show that they are tigers on the roads, so what that in the end, everyone is late because of their behaviours in negotiating roundabouts? So what if their actions result in a gridlock when all sides cannot move and thus, everyone loses time? So what it has become a habit that is the cause of the jams that they experience on their way home from work? It is more important to let the tiger inside them out..
Like everything in this country, it is each for himself (or more recently herself).
When a culture has set in, how is it going to be changed? It is easier to change from a strictly law abiding nation to one of lawlessness, but to change back would be a herculean task. This is because of human nature that dislikes being controlled , and human nature of kiasu-ness and selfishness.
Just to relate one recent incident before the CNY. I was travelling in Jalan San Peng which is a 4 lane city road divided by a central divider. In other words, there are 2 lanes to and 2 lanes fro. I was travelling in the slow lane on my side of the road, and suddenly I saw a car coming right stright at me, even though not at a high speed. I was shocked and shone my lights at the oncoming car-truck. The car-truck (it might be a Hilux, but I was too surprised to note the make of the car) just went straight at me, and I had no choice but to swerve to the fast lane to avoid a collision. The driver grinned at me and then passed into one of the side turning to the row of shop houses there.
This was the worse case of rule-breaking by a driver that I had come across, and mind you, I thought I had seen everything in KL.
How not to get depressed in KL, having to endure the endless and worsening traffic jams, and having to tolerate all sorts of nonsense in road driving?
Malaysians, it seems , would let the tigers inside them to rule once they get into the driver seats of their cars.
…………………………………………………………….
Someone told this to me just for laugh:
If you have a headache reading all these, apply some tiger balm
If you are thirsty for a beer, drink a tiger beer.
If you want to drive a car, Go Es*o and put a tiger in your tank.
But for your wife ‘s sake, please do not behave like Tiger W**d.
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