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iDood
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My work provides me the opportunity to travel and travel I do. It’s not even the middle of January and I already have my Silver Elite status on Continental Airlines for the year.
My most recent trip was to Kuala Lumpur (KL) in Malaysia. Leaving Houston, the trip took me to Tokyo, Japan and then to an over-night stay in Singapore. The following morning, a short 55-minute flight and a 45-minute, 150kph ride in a black S-class Mercedes Benz to my hotel and there I was—in Kuala Lumpur.
The ride from the airport to the hotel provided my first glimpse of the Petronas Twin Towers. I knew they were in Kuala Lumpur, but I didn’t know my hotel would be right next to them. At 1486 feet, they were the tallest buildings in the world until the completion of the Taipei Tower (1667 feet) on October 17, 2003. The night shot was literally taken from my hotel room.
Traveling to the hotel, I saw many motorbikes on the road. But, it was not until I walked the streets of KL I realized the vast number of motorbikes in the city. They were everywhere.
At the stoplights in the city, the riders would snake their way between the waiting cars to be first to take off when the light turned green. Sounding like a swarm of bees at the changing of the light, the riders with their 125cc motors would all take off in a mad dash for the next traffic light only to be passed again by all of the cars on the way. Once again, the riders would snake their motorbikes through the waiting cars to get to the front of the pack of cars, and the process would repeat from one traffic light to the next.
I noticed all riders wore helmets. I learned from Samy, my taxi driver on the way back to the airport, a helmet law was passed in Malaysia to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries from motorbike accidents.
Most riders wore jackets. But, the interesting thing about the jackets was that they were worn backwards. In other words, the back of the jacket was worn on the chest (to protect their clothes from dirt and bugs) and the front of the jacket (now in the back) was left unzipped. I’m assuming this was because of the temperature.
For the most part, the temperature in KL never changes. It’s about 90 degrees Fahrenheit everyday, all year. The only real change in the weather is the rainy season, but it has no bearing on the temperature. I’ll also assume the temperature was the reason most rider wore open-toed shoes.
In broken English, Samy gave me a few other facts about himself and motorbikes. Samy was born and raised in KL, though he had traveled to India once (he claimed to be 18% Indian… I don’t know and didn’t ask), and he vacationed in Australia once. Aside from that, he has been in KL his entire 54 years.
As far as motorbikes are concerned, Samy claimed there were more motorbikes in KL than cars. With gas at 1.42 Ringgit (RM)/liter ($1.41/gallon), I imagine the motorbikes are a very cost-effective means of travel. I must admit, walking the streets of KL, it was quite apparent there really were more motorbikes than cars. As I said before, they really were everywhere.
Samy told me you could purchase a 125cc motorbike for around 3500RM, which is less than $1000. Obviously if you want more options, or a larger motor, the price could increase to 5000RM, or around $1350.
The following statistic from Samy was a bit staggering: He claimed there were more than 22,000 motorbike accidents in KL in 1996. I did a little research, but could not find the exact statistic, but I did find the following from the Asian version of Time magazine:
With just 16% of the world's cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles, Asia accounts for more than half of the roughly 1.2 million traffic fatalities that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates occur globally every year. More than 600,000 Asians are killed and another 9.4 million are severely injured in traffic accidents annually.
Samy and I ran into a pretty nasty rain storm on the way to the airport. There were many motorbikes on the highway as the rain began to fall. Interestingly (at least to me) they all pulled over at about the same time, donned rain gear, and continued on their journey without missing a beat. Here in Texas, you’d see most motorcyclists huddled under an overpass in such a storm waiting for it to pass. But, if the motorbike is your only means of transportation…
I did see a few larger bikes in KL. Samy said there were groups of riders who would make the 4-hour trip from Singapore into KL on the weekends on all sorts of bikes: Harleys, sport bikes, cruisers, etc. Apparently many people want to escape the rigidity of Singapore—KL provides them that opportunity.
I should have rented a motorbike, but driving on the opposite side of the road in an unfamiliar city… maybe next time… when it’s not raining.
My most recent trip was to Kuala Lumpur (KL) in Malaysia. Leaving Houston, the trip took me to Tokyo, Japan and then to an over-night stay in Singapore. The following morning, a short 55-minute flight and a 45-minute, 150kph ride in a black S-class Mercedes Benz to my hotel and there I was—in Kuala Lumpur.
The ride from the airport to the hotel provided my first glimpse of the Petronas Twin Towers. I knew they were in Kuala Lumpur, but I didn’t know my hotel would be right next to them. At 1486 feet, they were the tallest buildings in the world until the completion of the Taipei Tower (1667 feet) on October 17, 2003. The night shot was literally taken from my hotel room.
Traveling to the hotel, I saw many motorbikes on the road. But, it was not until I walked the streets of KL I realized the vast number of motorbikes in the city. They were everywhere.
At the stoplights in the city, the riders would snake their way between the waiting cars to be first to take off when the light turned green. Sounding like a swarm of bees at the changing of the light, the riders with their 125cc motors would all take off in a mad dash for the next traffic light only to be passed again by all of the cars on the way. Once again, the riders would snake their motorbikes through the waiting cars to get to the front of the pack of cars, and the process would repeat from one traffic light to the next.
I noticed all riders wore helmets. I learned from Samy, my taxi driver on the way back to the airport, a helmet law was passed in Malaysia to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries from motorbike accidents.
Most riders wore jackets. But, the interesting thing about the jackets was that they were worn backwards. In other words, the back of the jacket was worn on the chest (to protect their clothes from dirt and bugs) and the front of the jacket (now in the back) was left unzipped. I’m assuming this was because of the temperature.
For the most part, the temperature in KL never changes. It’s about 90 degrees Fahrenheit everyday, all year. The only real change in the weather is the rainy season, but it has no bearing on the temperature. I’ll also assume the temperature was the reason most rider wore open-toed shoes.
In broken English, Samy gave me a few other facts about himself and motorbikes. Samy was born and raised in KL, though he had traveled to India once (he claimed to be 18% Indian… I don’t know and didn’t ask), and he vacationed in Australia once. Aside from that, he has been in KL his entire 54 years.
As far as motorbikes are concerned, Samy claimed there were more motorbikes in KL than cars. With gas at 1.42 Ringgit (RM)/liter ($1.41/gallon), I imagine the motorbikes are a very cost-effective means of travel. I must admit, walking the streets of KL, it was quite apparent there really were more motorbikes than cars. As I said before, they really were everywhere.
Samy told me you could purchase a 125cc motorbike for around 3500RM, which is less than $1000. Obviously if you want more options, or a larger motor, the price could increase to 5000RM, or around $1350.
The following statistic from Samy was a bit staggering: He claimed there were more than 22,000 motorbike accidents in KL in 1996. I did a little research, but could not find the exact statistic, but I did find the following from the Asian version of Time magazine:
With just 16% of the world's cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles, Asia accounts for more than half of the roughly 1.2 million traffic fatalities that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates occur globally every year. More than 600,000 Asians are killed and another 9.4 million are severely injured in traffic accidents annually.
Samy and I ran into a pretty nasty rain storm on the way to the airport. There were many motorbikes on the highway as the rain began to fall. Interestingly (at least to me) they all pulled over at about the same time, donned rain gear, and continued on their journey without missing a beat. Here in Texas, you’d see most motorcyclists huddled under an overpass in such a storm waiting for it to pass. But, if the motorbike is your only means of transportation…
I did see a few larger bikes in KL. Samy said there were groups of riders who would make the 4-hour trip from Singapore into KL on the weekends on all sorts of bikes: Harleys, sport bikes, cruisers, etc. Apparently many people want to escape the rigidity of Singapore—KL provides them that opportunity.
I should have rented a motorbike, but driving on the opposite side of the road in an unfamiliar city… maybe next time… when it’s not raining.
