Wear your helmet!

As I write this post on the importance of wearing a motorcycle helmet, an accident has just happened at the junction near my house ( junction of Kelawei Road and College Lane), in front of Gurney Plaza. There was a loud bang and we are pretty used to hearing accidents along that stretch.

I first saw this white guy on his Malaysian made scooter stopping at the Pulau Tikus traffic lights at the junction of Burmah Road and Cantoment Road. He was kinda old and plum. I figured he must be a tourist and not familiar with our road regulations as he did not wear a helmet. He could have forgotten to wear his helmet or he could have been too ignorant / blur to notice that other motorcyclist had their helmets on. We Malaysians gave him that stare like are you mad as he was doing it in broad daylight without fear of the police.

The second incident(also at the same junction), two guys who work for Kim Gary Restaurant(they were wearing Kim Gary T's) stopped on motorbike at the junction. The rider had a helmet but the pillion was not wearing. I figured he must have just lost it or it was an emergency. I was on the way to Ruby's house using Codrington Avenue and a man stopped these two guys on motorbike. I was not sure if he was a plain clothes police man but he was giving them a lecture / warning on the dangers of riding without a helmet as he was pointing at the pillion.

I do not understand how people could be so ignorant of their safety as a motorist by not wearing a helmet. Trust me, I drive a car and also I fear of being hit by other vehicles although that is the risk we have to take on the road.

With the active clubbing scenes here in Penang, there is a high possibility of drunk drivers or driving under the influence. There are some who forget fear and drive really fast and others like me who keep a low profile and drive slow after a few drinks to not create any attention. I ensure my Myvi spotlights are even off! Haha! I guess driving slow if you had some liquor is a good idea as our reflexes tend to be slower.

I try hard to drive safe especially at nights. I hate to drive late nights especially weekends and I do it only if I must(I never like Ruby to drive home late so I prefer to send).

What more than the safety of a motorbike during late nights and rainy days? I am not saying accidents could be avoided if you wear a helmet but it certainly provides some minimal protection to your head rather than nothing.

My fear for motorcyclist being a former cyclist is being rammed from behind. Riding a motorcycle in Penang is a wise thing considering how near things are, narrower roads and it's cheaper to operate a motorbike. However, we should not jeapordise our safety.

Remember, we can be as careful as we want but are others as careful as us?

Recent landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa

Living in Malaysia, we are lucky that we are not exposed to natural disasters; i.e. earthquakes(not to be confused with tremors) and volcanoes that disrupt our livelihood and have potential to take lives. Yes, we do have floods, droughts and the only worst natural disaster experienced most recently was the tsunami in 2004 that hit Penang. God forbid for things to change and to anticipate natural disasters to occur on our lands. Indeed, Malaysia is also being a victim of climate change but let's hope the situaton doesn't worsen. People say it could be that the times have changed and we may be going into a whole new evolution like when the dinosours perished.





The recent landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa in Kuala Lumpur was not natural and was a man-made aftermath. Heavy development on the hills led to soil erosion and underground streams that moved the earth in the area.


So sad to see lives perished and to see people losing their homes. Our homes are our havens where we go to seek peace and comfort from the outside world. It's a place that we call our own, customizing it to our tastes and functionality. Losing our home is like losing a big part of our lives. Lost are the good times and memories of that place we called home. Lost are also our personal physical belongings that we adore and we find happiness possessing. I certainly would not want anyone to take away my home.


The councils, government bodies and preservation committees should have looked into the development of hillsides before approving them. Developers are trying to make every effort to develop anything that is available especially in places like KL and Penang where land is scarce. That is their rice-bowl so they are certainly putting in effort and hoping to make a lot of money from developments regardless of where they are.


I am sure there are strict laws and requlations that govern land development. However, possibly due to bribery, such laws are overlooked and development continues with a gamble that nothing major will happen that may affect the security and protection of consumers who buy such properties. It is because of mens greed for what had recently happened in Bukit Antarabangsa.


We have certainly forgot about the past tragedy of the Highland Towers back in 1993 that claimed 48 lives. Maybe the lost was so painful that we forced oursleves to forget and be optimistic and continue with development of the hillsides. After all, it is all about "takdir Tuhan" as the excuse.


My aunt did almost buy one of the units in the Highland Towers project plan when it was first introduced in the mid 1980s. Thankfully she didn't. The developers promised a luxurious and comfortable living to entice customers to live on the hill. Many well to do people ceased the opportunity thinking that it would be the most hippest and glamourous thing to do. Many of them were so blinded by the idea, not considering the safety of themselves that led to their death and the death of their loved ones.


If we want to start / "continue" development of hills, let us learn from the pioneers in Hong Kong or Los Angelas who have accomplished it. With developments of science and technology today, I am sure there are ways of safely developing the hills without endangering safety. Better drainage systems on hills should be also high priority to quickly disperse water from catching on hills as it naturally wood.

However, it is hard to play with mother nature, we may fix the problems on the hills but it could create problems at the foot of the hills and affect people living there.

It would be best to leave our hills as virgin forest functioning as a green-lung and leaving them untouched as part of the preservation of nature. They should instead be utilized as parks where people can go hiking and jungle trekking to promote healthy lifestyle.