Driving in KL

Today 5th January 2010 and I drove in Malaysia for the first time. I went to Shah Alam and then, to KL. Driving in KL is something else. You must have your full concentration on the road. You must have eyes on your side and on the back of your heads. You are like a wilder-beast in the middle of the Savannah. At any time, a lion, a cheetah or a leopard is going to pounce on you from any directions. There could be a car, a lorry, a van, or motorbikes trying to cut you up from your right, your left, your front or back.

The roads are all over the place. You can go up, go down, join traffic from the right or the left. You need to really know where you're going or you will have to go an extra mile if you miss your turning.

It seems that braking is not in the highway code. People would rather change lanes and squeeze between traffic rather than to brake their cars.

Funny thing is...when one of my Malaysian friends went back to M'sia before me, she said despite all of this mess she still feels more comfortable driving in Malaysia than in the UK. I tend to agree with her. It does feel like I'm back in familiar territory even if that territory is a jungle.

Also, there is no 'hypocrisy'. What I mean is that what you see is what you get. People will drive like mad because that is how they drive. They will cut you up, change lanes, forget their signals, can't seem to find their brakes or forgotten their glasses but that is how they are. In the UK, it is nice to have people keeping lanes, observing 2-minute rule and strangers waving at one another to thank each other for giving way etc...but if you for reasons beyond your control does not return their gesture; they start to swear at you.

Once I was driving in a very narrow lane (as roads are in UK), the woman coming in the opposite direction gave way to me. I couldn't put my hand up to thank her because (I can't remember why) but I was preoccupied with something. I wasn't trying to be ungrateful or malicious or selfish but just distracted and she started swearing at me as though I owed her my life or something. People offer nice gestures but they expect something in return. If you don't return the 'favour' then, they will kick a big fuss, they will make sarcastic remarks, look at you like you're somekind of ungrateful worm or simply start to swear.

There is none of that in Malaysia. They just drive like mad.

TOP TIPS ON DRIVING IN KL

1. Make sure you have your ID card and driving licence with you at all times (in case there's a police road block or something)

2. You can renew your driving licence even if expired (cause you've been abroad) before every 5 years. So, renew your licence everytime you come back to Malaysia. Otherwise, you will have to re-take your test!!!

3. Always know where you're going first - googlemaps is like a life-saver.