Kota Kinabalu Drivers.
Hi everyone. Before anyone starts flaming me, let me set some things straight.
I am a Malaysian. I’m what East Malaysians would call “Semenanjung people” or “KL girl/boy”, because to East Malaysians, everywhere on the other side of East Malaysia is classified as “KL”, although I could be from Pahang, Terengganu, Melaka or wherever.
Before I rant, I’d like to clarify, I’m not an F1 driver, nor am I a road rager. I’m simply a normal, law-abiding driver who follow the rules. Ok fine, sometimes I do run the yellow light or make an illegal U-Turn or double park, but hello, it’s Malaysia, everyone does that.
Ok so a little back story of myself; I’m from the West Malaysia and I moved to KK (Kota Kinabalu, not Kota Kemuning) in 2016. I would not tell you where I’m exactly from or why I moved here, just in case some of you plan on hunting me down and bang my car. Moving on, I have been driving for more than 10 years, not just in Malaysia, I’ve driven in other countries for years when I was living abroad. So like I said earlier, I’m a normal and quite experienced driver. I say “quite” because there’ll be uncles and aunties out there saying “Wah, 10 years driving experience only! I’ve driven longer than you’ve eaten rice ah!”, a very typical thing you’ll hear from a Chinese uncle or aunty.
So anyway, I’ve been living in KK for almost 2 years. I love it here. I love the variety of local food- the noodles especially, I love the islands here, I love the people here. However, I wake up every day and as I start my day, there’s always one question on my mind, “How the *bleep* do you KK people get your driver’s license?”
Seriously, did you all just buy your Kopi-O license? Did you even pass your “Undang” test? Did you even take the test?
Like I said, I’m not a road-rager, but driving in KK has made me one. In Malaysia, the right lane is always the “fast” lane, where you drive faster than the left lane. Apparently, in KK, this rule is not applicable. At some point, some drivers decide to go cruising on this side of the road driving only 40km/h. Here I am, in need to get to somewhere fast, and I’m stuck behind this car on the right lane, taking its sweet time cruising. I try to overtake him from the left lane, but guess what, another car is also driving at 40km/h or maybe even slower. So, here I am, stuck behind these slow pokes.
So, that’s the slow drivers. Allow me to introduce to you the next type of drivers who contributed to my road-rage. The “brake for no reason” drivers. As usual, we’re all driving at a reasonable speed, and everything goes really smooth, no traffic, no slow pokes. But then, SUDDENLY, the car in front of me slams on the brakes. And I have to slam on my brakes as well, my tires screeching. I collect myself from the shock, I looked up to see what was the matter. And guess what, nothing. The car in front of me is just simply slowing down because of the traffic light, which is probably 1 kilometer away. WHY! I don’t understand why they have the tendency to slam on the brakes that urgently. These incidents happen to me on a DAILY BASIS, causing me to scream and swear and curse at the top of my lungs.
Don’t get me wrong, the people here are one of the most friendly ones I’ve met. What I love most about KK is that there is almost no racism here. They’re always so polite and kind and friendly. But, they seriously need to re-take their driving tests before they cause accidents on the road.
PLEASE AH. GO RETAKE YOUR DRIVING TEST!
Submitted by: Road rager in KK