The Agony Of Being Stuck

Have you ever thought that the road that you usually use to travel to work and back will be smooth on the day which you planned to leave early from home so that you could get to work earlier? Then have you ever thought that the traffic will be much more at ease during the wee hours in the morning? THINK AGAIN!

Welcome to the unexplainable traffic of Penang. I left home way earlier than I could and the morning traffic greets me with a bad jam. I got stuck in a massive jam created by no other than road closures that took place nearby Little India. Thaipusam is here and according to my colleague, the chariot will travel to the Botanical Gardens on the eve of Thaipusam... which it didn't really started in the evening, instead it happens in the morning! Now the trouble is this, wouldn't it be better for the traffic police to make a public announcement on the newspaper regarding the road closures just like the days prior to Merdeka to inform the public that which roads will be closed on what day and what time so that people can avoid the specific area.

We do have a traffic reports blaring on the radio stations, however!!! Those radios normally reports mainly on the traffic conditions over in KL, the causeway between Johor and Singapore and of course, the Penang Bridge. Hello!?? The coverage is not wide enough... which is a major loss. I remembered that I had to be stuck in a jam for more than 2 hours somewhere near Seremban on my way up from JB to KL on Christmas day and guess what, the radio had no intention to report about it. Roads were closed for a specific reason is understandable but what does the onlookers has to do? DRIVE YOUR FREAKING VEHICLE and get on with it. There's nothing much to see anyway and what if you manage to take a glimpse? Would that lead you to win the lottery or perhaps would that lead you to being famous? Seriously, Malaysians tend to have a habit of stopping and look before they proceed. If you can understand what I meant by "You are not helping, you are just giving more trouble in a troubled situation".

And that's how jams are created on this tiny island where roads are as small as a lorong and magic happens that a one lane street can eventually turn itself into 3 during these jam packed days. Today is Thaipusam and there's minor jams. I don't even want to imagine and think how this tiny island be choked on traffic this coming Chinese New Year. I'm ranting it out here just for the sake of making thoughts heard and if you are asking if I am still pissed... on what specifics that I should not be?