You know you're not in KL when...

You know you're not in KL when you're driving to enter a busy street at peak hours and a car on the busy street stop 50 meters away to yield and give way for you to get in. Lame joke aside, I've now returned to the States, with a heavy heart, always.

On Quality of Life in Malaysia
I was away for about a month, but only spent about 10 days in KL - way too short to do much and to meet people and relatives. On a short notice though, I was able to have a chit-chat meeting with a few high-ups from an agency responsible for transportation planning in Malaysia. It was mainly to introduce myself, discuss their ongoing activities, and identify potential ways for me to get involved in the future.

What's the most encouraging is to realize that Malaysia, especially KL, is in the middle of a public transportation renaissance. Nobody is a big fan of the road congestion caused by the MRT constructions. However, when the project is completed, people can easily commute to KL from and between all the satellite cities and towns including Kajang, Sungai Buloh, Subang Jaya, Puchong, Serdang, etc. Moreover, when everything is set and done, all these areas will simply be the suburbs of KL. This will bring KL on the same level as New York, Chicago, London, Paris, etc.

It has becoming a trend among youngsters in late 20s to 30s in metropolitan cities in the world to totally depend on public transportation. In the past, the youngsters like to boast about their cars. Now, it's more hip to boast about how long ago have been since they drove a car. Combined with transit-oriented urban developments, cars have become things of the past in some major cities. This is still a far-fetched in Malaysia, but the MRT will make not owning a car a possibility in the future in KL. At a minimum, MRT is expected to reduce congestion - that will reduce gas money and save time for non-users.

Another emerging public transportation project is high-speed rail (HSR). Once the KL-Singapore HSR line is completed, places as far away as Muar will also be the suburbs of KL (a HSR with an average 300km/h speed can cover the distance between KL and Muar in about 60 minutes non-stop). Time-wise, Seremban will probably be the new Bangsar, and Melaka will probably be a new PJ. Imagine a young graduate could afford a detached 3-bedroom house for under RM200,000 in these new suburbs, and commute everyday to downtown KL in less than an hour.

I'm not buying into the idea that high income will simply give higher quality of life. The reason can be summarized in one word - inflation. I'm not buying into the opposition's socialist ideas to improve the quality of life either. However, with new economic competitive areas, combined with better infrastructure planning, the vision will one day become a reality. Meanwhile, the non-sexy and under-appreciated field and people in transportation are slowly and quietly playing their crucial roles - eliminating or reducing the cost of owning cars and houses in the future.

On Food
You know you're not in KL when you're hungry late at night, the only options you have to eat out are for some "glorified dog foods" - deep-fried, grilled, baked or steamed. My two cents for my fellow Malaysians, stop political and racial bickering, and smell (and eat, of course) the nasi lemak, teh tarik, yong tau foo, roti canai, capati and other endless list of food treasures and heritage we share. Until my next visit in the not-too-distant future, I hope, I'll miss all of them.

p/s: My best food this time around, excluding my mom's, are rojak sotong and cendol Bangsar near the Petronas gas station