I'm sorry to say this but I really find a lot of people in this country being too laid back in various aspects of the lives. They are so contented in their comfort zone, which hinders the progress and development of this nation when Malaysia has so much room for improvement. For instance, the public infrastructures, especially the public transportation system within Klang Valley itself can be so much more developed. However, most people are so comfortable with what is available at the present time that they do not realize how amateur our public transportation system is when compared to our immediate neighbours, Singapore and Thailand. I know many would say that Singapore is such a small country, which is easier to manage, but hey, I am merely making the comparison with Klang Valley. If you want to make size comparisons, then let's compare to Tokyo, Seoul, London, which are much bigger than Klang Valley, but yet have way more advanced state-of-the-art public transportation systems respectively.
Recently, the government has placed many banners and advertisements at the KTM Komuter stations on how the government listens to the complains and outcry of the public and help in improving the standards of living. These banners also contain testimonials from the public on how the government projects and schemes have benefited them. I wish to highlight one of the testimonials, which I (and most probably anyone who travels on the KTM Komuter service on a regular basis) think is ridiculous. The statement goes "With the new six car set (SCS) trains, traveling with KTM Komuter is much more comfortable than before, and journeys are much more seamless without delays". I won't deny that the introduction of the SCS trains has made the journey more comfortable without the need to be sandwiched between who knows how many people (who's counting?). But the second part of the statement? BITCH PLEASE *insertyaomingmemehere*, the train is ANYTHING BUT PUNCTUAL. Almost everyday there are technical difficulties, which causes train services to be delayed from their schedule. It is already so bad that train intervals are so long (30 mins, but it's always more than that), technical difficulties causes train cancellation and further delays, and commuters are left bedazzled, dumbfound and stranded at all subsequent stations along the line. KTM doesn't even bother to arrange alternative transportation to alleviate the situation; they just repeatedly inform people that their train service is delayed. What is the point? KTM's management is seriously lacking professionalism with utmost poor customer service integrity. There's seriously no point that the new SCS trains are introduced when the root of the problem in KTM's serious low standard services lie in the punctuality and serviceability of their trains. Some people have the decency to tell me that I'm complaining too much and expecting too much and should just be grateful with the current system. That is the kind of mentality which hinders progress and development, and believe me if I could, I wish to slap these people in their faces to wake them up from their comfort zone.
The other key issue to note is how most people in this country move in such slow pace in what they do, with the exception of driving (Oh god, on the road, most Malaysians are like airplanes rushing to the afterlife). One of it is how slow they are at work, especially public service departments, whose staffs work at their own sweet pace, stopping to chat with their colleagues while attending to customers. Once again, these people with poor working ethics, I can only fathom how do they even live with themselves; it's so puzzling. Another example is how slow most people move in public areas such as train mass transits, pedestrian bridges, walkways and at even on escalators. If you wish to move or walk slowly, keep left; it's just like driving, where the right lane is the fast lane for people to who wish to overtake. But most people just walk abreast while chatting with one another without considering that there are others behind them whom wants to overtake them. At worst, they realize it, but choose to be ignorant. Just earlier today at KLCC LRT station, I was taking the escalator down to the platform and was walking on the right lane until a group of people in front of me blocked my way and did not want to move aside for me to overtake, and almost made me miss the train.
It's time that people in this country move away from their comfort zone and progress forward towards improvement and future development. Otherwise, I doubt we can ever achieve the status of a high-income and first world nation.
