IPOH, March 26 — Parking in lots meant for the disabled, queue-cutting on the road, spitting indiscriminately and littering.
Such antisocial behaviour is common enough that you would be forgiven for thinking they were acceptable in Malaysia, but these are also some habits that irk us the most.
Growing urbanisation has forced Malaysians to increasingly confront such misbehaviour, as dense urban living pushes more people together.
Polio patient V. Sreedaran Nair told Malay Mail he was often denied parking in lots reserved for the disabled by inconsiderate but otherwise healthy motorists.
“And to add insult to injury, I have to pay for parking at lots meant for the able bodied,” the lawyer said, noting that disabled drivers may park in such lots for free.
Another who reported similar misbehaviour was Annou Xavier, who explained that disabled lots were not simply about reserving spaces for such drivers.
While not important to regular users, such lots were generally larger as they need to accommodate ramps that wheelchair users need to disembark. While such users may also park in regular lots, these may not allow them to comfortably exit their vehicles.
“What angers me is when some physically-abled people park there, saying they are only going to go to the bank for a short while, but then take forever. This is my major pet peeve. It’s just wrong,” Annou, also a lawyer, added.
Others who spoke to Malay Mail highlighted growing incidents of antisocial behaviour, such as the increase of thugs on motorcycles commonly called “Mat Rempit”, a general disregard for cleanliness, and apathy towards the risk of spreading diseases via public spitting.
“I hate it when people spit everywhere they want. In my apartment, you can actually see phlegm on the staircase. At the very least, they could have spat it out into a drain. It’s just disgusting,” said Alba Syaari Abdul Latif, a public relations officer.
However, these complaints only show one side of the story. Most who complained about others’ behaviour to Malay Mail also conceded to their own actions that are considered ugly by others.
For instance, Alba Syaari admits that while he is irked by public spitting, he was guilty of dumping his trash outside of designated areas.
The indiscriminate littering was cited by Shaffi Abdul Rahim, 27, as among his biggest peeves of living in a 10-storey low-cost flat.
More worrying is when the litterers do not even bother to leave their units and just hurl their rubbish out the window, with no care as to who may be below.
Killer trash claimed the life of a schoolboy in Kuala Lumpur in January, when a chair thrown from a public housing flat hit him on the head as he was making his way home from school.
“There are those who are just too lazy, especially if they live on upper floors, who end up throwing their rubbish out from the window,” Shaffi said.
In turn, he conceded to being lackadaisical about indicating his movements on the road, saying he often switches lanes without signalling his intent.
Drivers like Shaffi also happen to be those who cause fitness and conditioning coach Bryan Yong, 26, to lose his cool.
But his response provides some insight into why antisocial behaviour appears to be on the rise in Malaysia.
“My problem is that I’d repay such acts by being just as inconsiderate, which doesn’t make me any better than them,” he said.
