The Chauffeur of the Universe
Today I'm writing this from a cafe a Nu Sentral. Took a train here at noon to replace my Touch N Go card at their customer service centre. Happy to have got that done. Now I'm just relaxing here with some coffee and a small bite.
I've always enjoyed taking the train. You get to walk and stand a lot, which is good exercise. The only time when it gets uncomfortable is when the trains are fully packed, usually during rush hours. If you are able to avoid that, then it is always a pleasant experience.
If I have any goals in life at all, it is to live without a car. I had no problems doing so when I was working in Singapore and Jakarta. Obviously, being carless in Singapore was easy because of their good public transportation system, but Jakarta was also easy to get around because there's an abundance of cheap but good taxis, three-wheelers and ojeks. Nowadays the e-hailing Gojek service makes it even more convenient.
I've always found it a hassle owning a car. But unfortunately you can't do without one if you're working in KL. Car is also a status symbol. This is something that I find very amusing. Why do people spend so much money on expensive cars and have to fork out an enormous amount of time, money and energy maintaining them? Every tiny speck of dirt has to be washed off; the chrome and body polished to a shiny perfection and every minuscule scratch attended to as if it is a harmful injury to one's own body.
The car, unfortunately forms part of one's public image. Some people deliberately use it to portray an image of success, even though this comes at a heavy price--hefty loan payments every month amounting to a big portion of their salaries. But to them, it is worth it. What's life without some luxury and style? Isn't image everything? Doesn't it feel good to be looked up to based on one's appearance of success?
The sight of luxury cars stuck in a traffic jam is a bit comical to me: they look like rows of people in their fancy dinner party outfits, sweating under the hot sun. It also doesn't surprise me why road rages happen so frequently. Underlying all such incidences are two psychological factors: one, the car is the outward manifestation of a person's ego; two: everyone's mind is focussed on their intended destination, not the here and now.
Let me elaborate. If you cut into my lane, you are showing me great disrespect--you are not acknowledging me and my status. It doesn't help that, most cars, in their attempt to look cool and sleek, projects a scowling and unfriendly appearance. There is no such thing as a friendly-looking car. Every car screams: "get out of my way". God forbid if they ever touch. If you see a crowd of people rushing to get into a train, it is normal for people to bump against each other. But why do the rules change when we are driving cars on the road?
This brings me to my next point: cars are not designed correctly. They should be engineered to take knocks and bumps all the time--maybe a bit like bumper cars we see in amusement parks. But instead what we see is a prissy parade of steel dandies in the streets. Woe to anyone who step on the hem of my silk garment!
Furthermore, driving is never an end in itself: we want to be at our destination as fast as possible. Is it any wonder that we get so mad whenever we encounter anything that slows us down? We want to be elsewhere, not here! Get out of my way!
My advise is: leave pride at home every time you drive. Your ego is too heavy a luggage to carry in your car. And treat every drive as if it is a leisurely walk in the park. That way, you won't be so offended if anyone puts a dent on your car or obstructs your path. There'll be less rage in the world if we do not always think we are the one in the driving seat. The universe has its own all-knowing chauffeur.
