Entry 188 - LRT & KTM: My Opinion

Dear blog,

What I am to discuss in this entry is a few series of incidents that I witnessed a few days ago. I was on my way to Midvalley to ease out my mind on the weekend. This time, I used the public transportation: LRT and Komuter. At first, I assumed that during weekend, less people will be using the LRT. Here's where I was wrong. There's no way people would abandon LRT and choose to go by taxi or driving to the mall themselves. Why? Because using public transportation is very cheap. The total fare using LRT and Komuter to Midvalley is exactly half compared to using the taxi (in my case, I took the LRT from Kerinchi Station).

RapidKL

Empty LRT

Although the fare might be cheap, there will always be a trade-off to that. For example, there were a lot of people in the LRT. In each station the LRT stopped by, dozens of people gushed inside. I swear, it was like a can of sardine. The image above of an LRT being totally empty, you can only see it here. On weekend, don't ever bother to dream about this. So, what's the trade-off? Comfort and security.

Imagine being in a train where hundreds of people are being crammed inside. There are limited spaces, and the only way for one to be inside is to lean on each other. It can cause to some people a feeling of discomfort. For example, I don't like to be pushed and lean against the ladies in the train, because it was wrong to me. Would you mind a total stranger leaning on your back? Not me. In addition, one may be charged with sexual harassment. Unintended touching can cause you a great humiliation especially in the society. On the other hand, perverts may take the chance to molest a victim. (P/s: In Japan, it's a fetish habit among the men to molest the ladies in a crowded train. The molester is called 'Chikan', you can Google it yourselves). Security-wise, when lots of people are in a crowded place, it's easy to slip your hands into somebody's pockets or handbags and grabbed a wallet or mobile phone. Not too bothered about that? What if some junkies slipped a packet of heroine or methamphetamine? Dangerous? I bet it is.

The same thing happened in the Komuter. I won't repeat myself of what happened since it's the same thing in the LRT. However, I was quite pissed off when the Komuter reached the Midvalley stop, and as people are rushing out from the Komuter, there are ignorant and irresponsible people trying to get inside the Komuter. I supposed they are trying to secure the seats in the Komuter. However, it is a common courtesy to make way for the people to come out from the train. I stared at the guy who slipped in while everyone were trying hard to go out from the Komuter. He was very uneasy from my stare, because he knew he was wrong. A few seconds later, another woman did the same thing. I bet she felt ashamed when a man gave her a lecture of a lifetime.


Right now, there are coaches prepared for the ladies. The pink coach. I bet those who are always using the Komuter service, by now should know about it. It is extravagantly recognizable. If you're colour-blind, that's another issue :P

Hello Kitty? That's the best thing that comes in pink?

Wow, this guy is so thick-face.

I took the bus to go back to my hostel. The bus stopped at Universiti LRT Station, and I had to walk to the hostel, which is roughly less than one kilometre. The fare from Midvalley to the station is much cheaper. Less than the travel fare using the LRT and Komuter. What's bad about the bus? The same thing. A bus that I took had >50 people inside it. I was uneasy in it as the ladies being pushed here and there, and swayed around when the bus made a turn. However, they didn't seem to be concerned about being pushed around, or even collided with the men. I wonder why. Acceptance of the situation?

Well, I don't have anything to write for now. I ran out of idea (and I have to get back to my assignment).

Thank you for reading and thank you to some of my friends who had been asking about my blog. Seems like my blog are being read by others. Well, that's what blogs are for. I will be more active in the future.

I'm a blogger,

I'm okay,

I guess?