I'm sure everyone's been through this, especially when you're in Malaysia. Where manners is secondary to social hierachy and the simple phrases like "please", "sorry", "thanks", or even the far more commonly used "hello" that we've been taught to constantly use by our parents either go completely unsaid or sometimes, used with utter bitterness. As if the person they are saying it to forced them to.
As a result, we don't really know how to get our points across, we have so many misunderstandings, we have unecessary arguments, and finally, we tend to lose the will to be polite to one another. We begin to believe that things should be done for us and we do not need to show appreciation, as it is the job of the underlings to serve us. We no longer say "please" when we want a favour done for us thinking that you must have done something for the other person in the past and he or she is just returning the deed. In other words, taking people for granted. We don't bother apologising to others we've wronged thinking we've been wronged on countless ocassions we don't get apologies.
Mom and dad taught us these things for a reason. When such social protocol no longer has a place in modern society, the whole social structure breaks down. In the words of Dr. Sheldon Cooper from "The Big Bang Theory", We descend into anarchy.
Those words, I'm sure most of you would agree, is beginning to ring true if it hasn't already. For the sake of this blog post, I shall only use one example. Malaysian motorcyclists. That alone is enough to explain my point completely. To begin with, I say Malaysian motorcyclists because I do not actually know how motorcyclists in other countries behave on the road. That said, I haved lived and assimilated into cultures from both developed and developing countries. I can and have seen the huge difference in the way the people behave on the roads. Also, when I say Malaysian motorcyclists, by no means am I referring to every single one of you motorcyclists. I am aware that every individual behaves a little bit differently on the road and some of you are very, very well-behaved. However, I do refer to a good many of you. The ones who can't differentiate between right of way and physics. To whom size equals faster runs through the traffic and the ability to cut into everyone's way with ease. To whom physics does not apply until they get hit.
You see this all over the place. In Malaysia, motorcyclists have no sense of lane-keeping. No sense of direction. A one-way street going south can be used to go northwards by a motorcyclist. Cutting lanes, bullying your way past traffic is a way of life. If you can't bully your way through, blare your horn. Who cares if you're just a little mosquito who does not have the right of way and the highway was made for cars. Bleep away and then stare back at the car that was just minding his own business before you came along to ruin his or her day.
I understand that considering the way car drivers behave on Malaysian roads, we're no angels either. As a result, we cause accidents and the motorcyclists, having much, much less protection than a passenger on a car, is far more prone to accidents and serious injury. I would like to offer all of you motorcyclists a solution. Instead of cutting lanes, riding in the middle of two lanes very quickly in the middle of a jam at night, and shouting at every car that rightfully is allowed to change lanes, why don't you just keep to the left of the highway, or the road where you belong??? Isn't that what they teach you before you get your biking licence??? Wouldn't you be able to avoid a lot more accidents if you keep to the speed limit or match the speed of cars and keep to the left where you're not a nuisance instead of speeding along and cutting people up everytime there's a corner or a slow traffic???
Another one is at a highway where there are designated motorbike lanes on the left. Guarded by safety rails so we people who have more sense and drive cars would have less a chance of hitting you should there be an accident. There shouldn't be complaints about bad motorcycle roads. We who drive cars do not care. It does not concern us. We pay the car road tax because we want to drive on the road for cars. You pay bike road tax, no tolls, you get the bike lane. You shouldn't be playing around on places that were made for the car. I don't care even if you have a really good and powerful bike. If there's a lane for the motorcycle, be a good motorcyclist, stay where you are. If you want to come onto the road, work a little bit harder and maybe then you can afford a car.
As much as you think that maybe it, there is another thing that some (a very small number) of motorcyclists like to do. They tend to believe they can bully their way through the traffic. Sometimes when there's a bottleneck at a junction and the cars are really close together (maybe at a junction), you will find that in the midst of five or so more lanes of tightly-packed cars, there will be a few motorcyclists joining in the action. I wouldn't mind it so much if there were two lanes leading to two other destinations and the motorcyclist had to use the right one. That's completely acceptable. However the ones I'm talking about are the kind who shoves and pushes through traffic giving car drivers another thing to worry about when there are a million angles that he has to look at so to not cause an accident. To make matters worse, a number of them like to bully their way through by blaring their horns when they can't move their bikes. They choose to come onto the road yet they cannot wait for the traffic to clear up a little like everybody else. There are moments when you just cannot give way whether it's to a car or a motorcycle and yet, there's a motorcycle behind you on the left, blaring away. He or she is neither in your lane or the lane on the left. Just blaring away, trying to bully his way through on your left.
Forgive me but all motorcylists seem to tell the whole world to sympathise with them. To understand their predicament. They are physically smaller, and some of them aren't able to afford a car. Well not being able to afford a car is unfortunate if you actually want a car. But if you get a motorcycle, behave yourself. Don't annoy the car drivers. The lanes are designed to fit cars and buses, not bikes. That's why they are 7-8 feet wide. You are allowed on the road but you shall keep to the left so that we won't accidentally hit you. It's for your own good. If you're physically smaller, don't think that it's an advantage and you can cut in front of everyone. In a collision between a car and a motorcycle, you cannot win. At u-turns, if you decide to turn alongside a car, don't cut him up when you straighten up. You skid, you end up under the car. I simply don't know how they cannot understand such simple logic. In Australia, motorcyclists treat cars with respect. In return, they're also treated with respect by car drivers. They too use their inferior size to get past traffic but they do it carefully. They too race between the lights but they don't cut people up on purpose. They too ride very fast on interstate roads and on fast lanes, but they are genuinely good, powerful motorcycles that can match and handle the speed that the cars can. They also understand that they are entirely to blame should there be an accident involving them when they decide not to use the motorcycle lane. As such, they stay there. Unlike Malaysian motorcyclists who constantly blame drivers for being rude or causing accidents.
If you want to be safe, buy a car. If you can't afford it, work harder. If you want a bike, keep to your lane. No one needs a mosquito buzzing around making a nuisance of him or herself on the road. You don't pay the road tax we pay. You don't deserve to use roads that were made for us when there are roads all over the place made for you.
I do not say this because I hate motorcycles. I understand it's appeal and I too have a liking for the whole open-air experience. However, I do not believe it's very safe to travel at speeds deemed dangerous even for a car, on a vehicle that has to be propped up by a stand when it's stationary. A motorcycle is flawed in engineering terms for it's extremely short wheelbase, and it's height which is immense considering it is usually only about 2 feet wide. As a result, it not only cannot stand on it's own, it has a very high centre of gravity.
Cars are a different story. We're much safer in the same environment. It weighs much more of of course. But because we're always more stable at normal speeds, we brake faster, we corner better, we can also drive much faster. As a result, at most times, there's just more fun in a car. Some of us car-drivers will choose to have it on a public road. A motorcycle cutting us up at our territory is not something we welcome. Not even at normal driving conditions. We don't appreciate it from other car-drivers, we certainly don't appreciate it from you two-wheeled houseflies.
So to those motorcyclists who have been brought up and taught how to commandeer a motorcycle by the society that does not understand manners, keep in mind. Your society may have given up on manners and respect, but if you don't start practicing it again, car-drivers might give up on their patience as well. Then society really descends into anarchy. We will be unharmed and you will be left in tears when there are accidents that seem to only involve you people all over the place. When that day comes, if your brain turns into a puddle of red underneath car tyres, just make sure that you don't get your blood anywhere on the car. It's a bit of an inconvenience to us.
