It’s an unfortunate reality that lax enforcement and a poor sense of civic responsibility have led to basic road rules and driving etiquette being wilfully ignored in Malaysia. That’s bad enough when locals are blatantly flouting established norms, but it’s even worse when foreigners join in on the act.
One such incident happened on Sunday near the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link, leaving the Tanjung Kupang toll plaza. The originally-posted video shows a Malaysian motorist navigating through the heavily-jammed section leading towards the Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ complex, driving past a narrowing lane on the left side.
All of a sudden, a woman exits the car next to the said Malaysian – a Singapore-registered Toyota Prius – and walks right into the front of the dash cam-equipped car to stop the driver and allow the Prius to cut the queue. The local, clearly bewildered, inches forward and pushes the woman in front to deny the Toyota from entering their lane, but ultimately failed. This is typical kiasu behaviour on both sides, taken to its most ridiculous extreme.
Needless to say, both the woman and the driver of the Prius took quite a hit from netizens on social media – so much so that the Singaporean involved in the incident, Chung Sandra, took to a Johorean Facebook group in an attempt to exonerate herself. In her post below, Chung said she was merely following the Hyundai Staria in front of her, and that the Malaysian, who turned out to be driving a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, was forcing her into the temporary barrier on the left.
However, the videos that Chung included in the post only managed to incriminate her even further. Her dash cam video showed her exiting the toll and immediately swerving left to enter the lane that was already narrowing, instead of following her existing lane. Her claim that she had merely been following the Staria also does not hold water, as the MPV was exiting the toll booth on the left and thus had the right to stay on the left, whereas Chung was cutting in from the right.
It’s clear, then, that Chung had gone to the left lane just to cut three cars (which, let’s face it, would’ve saved no more than a handful of minutes from her journey). This is abhorrent behaviour in and of itself, not least because it represents a complete lack of respect for the three cars ahead of her, that were simply waiting in line.
But it’s the fact that the passenger got out of the car to stop traffic that is most egregious. This shows that either Chung or the passenger (most probably both) believed it was their absolute right to occupy that space, getting their way through a reckless display of self-importance. The fact that Chung tried to defend her and her passenger’s actions once they were both bashed online was just the cherry on top.
There are other questions too. For instance, why didn’t Chung simply join the queue behind the E-Class when she was cut off? Was it that important to stick behind the Staria at any cost – including risking her passenger getting run over?
It’s worth noting that during lane closures, the zipper method – where cars in two lanes take turns merging into the remaining open lane – is the most effective way to ensure that congestion is minimised. Instead, Chung forced her way into the next lane by sticking behind the Staria (and used her passenger to stop traffic), which only served to worsen the jam behind her. This is the definition of being selfish.
Let’s be honest here – foreigner or not, this sort of behaviour (minus the passenger stopping traffic, of course) is commonplace in Malaysia. Motorists cutting queues at junctions, U-turns and highway exits are just a way of life now, but that doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly inconsiderate.
Imagine this – you’re at a popular coffee shop, there’s a line at the counter, and you’ve already waited in the said line for some time. If someone walks up and barges into the queue in front of you without showing a hint of remorse, would you simply let them? If you wouldn’t allow for this kind of nonsense at a coffee shop, why do we allow it to happen on our roads? It’s simply mind boggling.
Having driven in other countries, we can attest that drivers there do not take kindly to such blatant queue cutting and would not allow other road users to barge in under any circumstances. This includes Singaporeans, making this act even more heinous coming from someone from the island nation.
There’s one reason why Singaporeans respect road rules and etiquette in their own country and not ours, and that is their nation’s strict law enforcement and the harsh punishments it exacts for flouting those rules – both things we unfortunately lack. Unless Malaysians (and foreigners) can effectively self-police, it is up to the authorities to uphold the law, and sadly in this country the police simply look the other way when such incidents occur.
Regardless of how courteous we are on the roads (and this video shows we aren’t), Malaysia needs better enforcement, plain and simple. At the very least, harsher fines and penalties will make road users think twice before cutting queues and inconveniencing other motorists. Hopefully this incident will make the authorities decide that enough is enough.
The post Singaporean stops traffic to help car cut Second Link queue in viral video – this is unacceptable behaviour appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
