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Malaysian roads are never designed and built to be pedestrian-friendly. If you haven’t already noticed, you will see that most Malaysian roads are like that with the exception of certain major cities in the country. For the most part, you can see in smaller cities and towns in Malaysia have near-non existence of pedestrian sidewalks.
In all honesty, this is in fact quite a normal scene within our country. At one point in time, sidewalks don’t matter because people never thought of walking to their destination on foot. For the most part, people will either drive to their destinations (if they have a car) or just take a taxi or Grab. Or at the very least, take the LRT and similar railway lines.
Great improvement in public transportations
We can see how in recent years our public transport systems have greatly improved, which is pretty good, to be honest. That means people can get from one location to another a lot easier now. If you used to live quite far away from the city center, public transport will allow for improved connectivity from your place to the city center.
However, there is still room for pedestrian improvement. Have you ever noticed how despite the uprising in public transport, many people still cannot get to it easier? It’s mostly due to bad connectivity to these train stations on foot. Some people who live quite a distance from the train stations may not be able to get there by foot. They may have to take a taxi or Grab just to get there, which sometimes can be expensive in the long run.
Think of it this way: imagine your apartment or house is located within walking distance of the train station. However, you are unable to get to the train station because you will need to cross a busy road or take a huge diverted road. For some people, it has become something rather inconvenient because of one small issue.
The danger of travelling by foot
Here’s the thing when it comes to walking in Malaysia. It tends to be more dangerous than driving at times. Even if there are sidewalks for pedestrians, it tends to be very narrow. Who would know if you’d be run over by some reckless driver and get dragged along to your death? Or the fact that a lot of times sidewalks are not properly maintained. You’d never know if you’d trip over gaps if you weren’t paying attention.
If you are on the sidewalk as a pedestrian at night, you’d fear going alone as there will be times when the sidewalks are not very well-lit. You will never know if anyone will jump you and rob you of your belongings. Such is the sad state of public amenities development in our country. What could have been something that is done well has become something that’s done in a shoddy and half-assed manner? In the end, it’s always the community that suffers such horrible work and planning.
Bottom line
If you choose to walk from one location to another, do be on the lookout so as to not get robbed or run over by reckless drivers. It’s just unfortunate that Malaysia isn’t the kind of country that has proper planning for its public works. Don’t over-rely on certain departments to get things done in a proper fashion in our country!
Lydia is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
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