Stupid Malaysian drivers
An experience just now galvanised me to update my seemingly neglected blog. Yes, i know it's been neglected, i know i haven't updated for quite a while. But there's really nothing much to blog about now, and i don't feel the mood to write anything. Though of course it'll still be nice to receive comments. Surprisingly you all have still been studiously checking my blog. Anyway, i digress...
Me, Mel, Erwin, Gigi, and Steph took Phaik Yee and Hung who came down to KL to Lookout Point on Cheras Hill for dinner. After going around in circles and spending over an hour traversing the city we arrived at our destination at almost 10pm. But that's not the point of this post.
It's all about how Malaysian drivers are the most selfish, inconsiderate, uncourteous drivers, having no sense of public decencty, respect for road laws and regulations, or even general common sense and responsibility. Admittedly, planning for parking is virtually non-existent there. But that does not give anyone the right to indiscriminately double park wherever they like. All it serves to do is to exacerbate the problem.
So when it was time to leave, we found this Kelisa, in all its splendor double parked right in front of my car. Incessant honking and even making announcements on the PA system failed to rouse the owner from his slumber of whatever tempurung he was hiding under. I think Erwin even went to the extent of walking around asking if anyone was the owner of the car. I tried many times, various car alignments to squeeze through the narrow opening, but to no avail. Even Mel and Phaik Yee in all their tininess valiantly tried to push the offending car.
A crowd gathers, everyone trying to give advice on how to extricate my car. Finally, after more than half an hour, and as a result of something untaught in driving schools, i.e. a 30-point turn, involving reversing back and forth numerous times, i managed to squeeze the car out through the narrow opening, with not even inches, but millimetres to spare on either side. And it's a manual car as well, mind you. Funny to hear applause upon a successful exit from a parking lot, but it was a very 'interesting' experience nonetheless. Even Gigi didn't want to leave to go to the toilet so as not to miss out on any action.
And the result of Murphy's law or whatever law it is is that only when i finally managed to get out that the owner decides to turn up. This lady walks out and enters her car without even a word of apology. At least, Erwin gave her a piece of his mind. Good thing we're not thugs otherwise we would have left scratches of telltale signs of our frustration on her car.
You see right, even in the event you cannot find a parking lot, even in the event that you really really have an urgent need to rush down, and you can't find someone to jaga the car while you're inside, at least have the decency or common sense to ensure that you're not blocking anyone. Leave a message with your contact number on your windscreen, don't stray too far from your car, or at least be alert enough to hear when you hear honking or announcements on the PA system. But nooo, some people prefer to live in their own bubble and think they own the road, oblivious to everything else. Anyway, there was a sign at the back of the car that reads, "Khalifah inside." You decide the significance of that..
This further reinforces the deterioration of the state of affairs in Malaysia. People nowadays can't care less about virtues which was once the staple of a considerate society. Now people's attitudes have changed to "do-whatever-i-can-to benefit-myself-without-regard- for-others." My experience was not a rare occasion. How many times have you seen people cutting queue at a traffic light or lane convergence, double parked, driven slowly on the right lane, overtaking on the left lane or driving manically on the roads. Only in Malaysia i tell you. It perfectly embodifies the Malaysian spirit of everthing can do to a new level. Malaysia Boleh.
Update: This is the wonderful view of the KL skyline from that restaurant (curtesy of Mel's awesome long exposure camera). You can even see the twin spotlights from KLCC illuminating the night sky.
It's all about how Malaysian drivers are the most selfish, inconsiderate, uncourteous drivers, having no sense of public decencty, respect for road laws and regulations, or even general common sense and responsibility. Admittedly, planning for parking is virtually non-existent there. But that does not give anyone the right to indiscriminately double park wherever they like. All it serves to do is to exacerbate the problem.
So when it was time to leave, we found this Kelisa, in all its splendor double parked right in front of my car. Incessant honking and even making announcements on the PA system failed to rouse the owner from his slumber of whatever tempurung he was hiding under. I think Erwin even went to the extent of walking around asking if anyone was the owner of the car. I tried many times, various car alignments to squeeze through the narrow opening, but to no avail. Even Mel and Phaik Yee in all their tininess valiantly tried to push the offending car.
A crowd gathers, everyone trying to give advice on how to extricate my car. Finally, after more than half an hour, and as a result of something untaught in driving schools, i.e. a 30-point turn, involving reversing back and forth numerous times, i managed to squeeze the car out through the narrow opening, with not even inches, but millimetres to spare on either side. And it's a manual car as well, mind you. Funny to hear applause upon a successful exit from a parking lot, but it was a very 'interesting' experience nonetheless. Even Gigi didn't want to leave to go to the toilet so as not to miss out on any action.
And the result of Murphy's law or whatever law it is is that only when i finally managed to get out that the owner decides to turn up. This lady walks out and enters her car without even a word of apology. At least, Erwin gave her a piece of his mind. Good thing we're not thugs otherwise we would have left scratches of telltale signs of our frustration on her car.
You see right, even in the event you cannot find a parking lot, even in the event that you really really have an urgent need to rush down, and you can't find someone to jaga the car while you're inside, at least have the decency or common sense to ensure that you're not blocking anyone. Leave a message with your contact number on your windscreen, don't stray too far from your car, or at least be alert enough to hear when you hear honking or announcements on the PA system. But nooo, some people prefer to live in their own bubble and think they own the road, oblivious to everything else. Anyway, there was a sign at the back of the car that reads, "Khalifah inside." You decide the significance of that..
This further reinforces the deterioration of the state of affairs in Malaysia. People nowadays can't care less about virtues which was once the staple of a considerate society. Now people's attitudes have changed to "do-whatever-i-can-to benefit-myself-without-regard- for-others." My experience was not a rare occasion. How many times have you seen people cutting queue at a traffic light or lane convergence, double parked, driven slowly on the right lane, overtaking on the left lane or driving manically on the roads. Only in Malaysia i tell you. It perfectly embodifies the Malaysian spirit of everthing can do to a new level. Malaysia Boleh.
Update: This is the wonderful view of the KL skyline from that restaurant (curtesy of Mel's awesome long exposure camera). You can even see the twin spotlights from KLCC illuminating the night sky.
7 comments:
my goodness..
you make yourself sound so self-righteous as though you're not a malaysian driver yourself!
p.s: i hear kelisa's can be lifted up
*sigh* in malaysia imagine worst-case scenario driving. but i suppose it's still better than china.. or cambodia for that matter. there's no side of the road and you can get held up by cows.
hahaha... good to see you're starting to love the country again though.
and i merajuk... u go out with gigi n mel n erwin n never invite. :(
hahaa.. cutting queue, speeding through a yellow light, or hogging the right lane is a tad more acceptable than double parking and leaving it there for half an hour.. quite ridiculous..
and yeah, i know it can be lifted up.. all of us remembered last time when they were tarring the road outside cempaka, 4 men could physically lift up a car to move it aside.. unfortunately, we tried, which only proved that we weren't that strong. haha. besides, the bumper felt like it was gonna come off.
u go organise a dinner with them one they. i'll fetch you..
If there was nobody around..or at least nobody looking I would have scratched that car with a coin. (see, we do learn good shit at school)
and spit on it. or break a wiper or something.
and then get the hell out of there!!
LOL..Dan, I think the point is he can't get the hell out of there :p hehe..thank god I can't drive so I will not potentially face this kinda problem but kudos to Erwin for telling the woman off, so should you Isaac!! I help you curse her in this cyberspace #$!%$%^@#$#&%&(*^#$%#@$@!#$!~~
Dan, i'm disappointed.. 11 years of Moral Education hasn't thought you anything? What was the nilai in bab 1 - Sedia memaafkan?? haha. I'm kidding, i never paid attention during moral either..
And yes veron, u do have a very valid point, i really couldn't get out even if i wanted to. Btw, i know Ipoh is so small u can practically walk through it, but it's high time u learnt how to drive!! hahaa
LOL..i have been wanting to post a comment on this but i was interupted by somebody the other day. Isaac, I think this is the first time I'm seeing you all worked up. Hahaha..usually u r this cool kid but I guess there's no way you can tolerate selfish ppl like that. good for you! i would prob 'in kee hong's words' CHOCKSLAM her!!! hahaha...i really can't stand that kinda of mentality! by the way election's coming up. make sure u guys VOTE! and you should know who to vote for!!! I finally agree with KH..we need a CHANGE! I wish I can vote!
Haha. You're right, i really don't get angry that easily, which is good and bad in it's own way. Anyway, you're sounding like Obama's rhetoric, all about change. But you're definitely right, the best we can hope for is a less than 2/3 majority for BN this time around. And no unfortunately most of us can't vote as we had to register like 4-5 months beforehand and we were all still in Melb.
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