Riding the highways

While traveling the main roads in Kuala Lumpur, even though motorbikes lanes have been constructed especially for them, you could paralyze for a moment when out of a sudden a motorbike flashed by you. That could have caused an accident through no fault of yours because the motorcyclist had no right to be where he was in the first place. Motorbike lanes are exclusively built for their use but sometimes motorcyclists just choose not to use them. Using the lanes curtained their spirit to race like Valentino Rossi. You could see them zig-zagging, similarly to performing a Chinese dragon dance on the busy roads.

Seeing them in a group contributed to a feeling of uneasiness, bordering on suspicion. They may be the Mat Rempits. They caused fear to civilians and terrorized their victims mercilessly. Ya, ya those road lunatics, our government at one time supported. They are praised for their gifted motorcyclist’s skills.

I must add that not everyone who travels in a group is a Mat Rempit. Those riding the Harvey Davidson bikes would want me to disqualify them from the title. They are the harmless, adventure and leisure loving enthusiastics socializing with each other.

Why do I hit on them today, what triggers my sensitivity to criticize them?

It was already 7 am. A time when most of us were hurrying to work. A time when most of us held an impatient temper. A car from a side road decided to join the mainstream traffic without signaling. I swerved slightly to the right lane. Like lightening a motorbike flashed by. I held back my oil. I missed him by a blink. I could have knocked him or he could have slammed into me. Gooseberries surfaced, my pores perspired. It left me shaken.

As for the motorcyclist, he was well ahead, unaware of what he had caused me. To me it was a frightening experience. To the daredevils, that was wet, wet water.