It is OK to be wrong!

To someone new to Malaysia, the one thing that will strike them is the way people drive cars here. There are many good and obedient drivers, who follow rules and queues, but there are many more  who try to drive like Michael Suchmacher but without his skills and patience.

Then there are those who do not care to read arrow signs, and go onto the wrong lanes, or worse, go into a one way street in the opposite direction.

There are those who pay hefty sum to walk on treadmills in Gyms, but would not even want to walk an extra step when it comes to parking his or her cars. They will double-park right in front of their destination, even when 30 feet down the road, there are official car parks for parking. End result:  double parking causing difficulty for other drivers and jams to be built up.

Then there are those with good colour visions who have suddenly turned colour blind when coming to a traffic light junction, and drive their cars shooting across the road when lights turn amber or red.

One recent personal experience. I usually parked my car at the back of my clinic which i have turned into a garage for my car. The garage door opens to the backlane behind my clinic; there are yellow lines drawn on both sides of the narrow lane. I also put a prominent “Please Do not park- car exit” sign, in both English and Chinese,  just outside the garage door. But recently, when I wanted to go home after work, I found a car parked right outside the garage door, blocking the way. I went around my neighbouring shops asking for owner of the car but no one seemed to know anything about the car.

After waiting for about 20 minutes, a stout  middle age man in short and t-shirt came walking with a small girl to the car. He was carrying some “Ta Pao”(take away)  food. When I told him politely that his car has blocked me for 20 minutes and pointed at the yellow line, he stared at me, got his girl and himself into the car, and just before closing his door, screamed at me in Cantonese ” hui  sei lah” ( in english “go and die”).

What is he trying to show, I really do not know. How his behaviour is going to affect the little girl, I do not know. I only know that there are many such people around whose egos are so high that they cannot even acknowledge their mistakes and cannot even have the courtesy to say ‘sorry”.

The whole driving culture is wrong and police are not sending the right message. Only this morning, when I was travelling down Federal Highway from my house to my workplace, I saw a police Waja with 4 persons inside moving leisurely down the yellow lane reserved for buses and taxis in front of Khuan Cheng High school.  And of course , many cars would follow, and hence this really defeats the purpose of having a yellow lane.

(picture courtesy of drivelikeagirl.com)

Another was the announcement that there would be 50% discount for those who did not settle summons on time. This really sends a wrong signal.

Those who receive summons are not going to pay on time since they know that there would be discount if they do not pay. Those who settle promptly are thus penalised, as they actually paid 50% more for being obedient citizens.  Actually it should be the other way round. Those who pay early and on time should be given discount and those who pay after the specified period should be punished with a late fees. In Malaysia, we are doing it in a reverse manner.

This is a sure way of encouraging Malaysians not to have discipline.  In those countries where the citizens show good discipline, wrong doing and late payments are punished, not those  who pay their fines on time.

Any wonder why we are not like South Korea, Japan, or  Singapore.

Any wonder Malaysian drivers are not scared to flout traffic rules? When wrong doing can be discounted, it is a signal that it is OK not to follow rules.

 

(This article is also published in MalaysianInsider as “When it is OK to be wrong”.)