25 Jun 2008

Urban poor

Today's Malay Mail highlighted the plight of those living in cities such as KL. It's true that with rising costs a lot of people are living too close to the poverty line for comfort. According to the paper even those earning RM3000 a month find it hard to live in the city, especially if they are married with kids in school. School bus fares have gone up, the price of food has gone up and petrol has gone up. Rent too has gone up (to keep up with the J0nes) - so how can a lot of people working as clerks or shop assistants survive, living in KL? I know that my two children who are both young graduates working in KL would not be able to live comfortably if we don't help them. Will petty thefts and burglary raise its head again as predicted by some people? I sincerely hope not.
Yesterday as the hubby and I were going to the bank we saw an accident. Poor kid was lying on the road, presumably unconscious and everyone was just standing there, looking. There was blood all over the road . The crowd was just standing, looking on as if they were watching a gruesome scene from a movie. If somebody had called for an ambulance I doubt it would arrive in time to save the boy (he looked like only a boy or at least a young man). I don't know what it is with these young people who race through traffic daily, weaving in and out, causing other motorists a heart attack. I flinch every time one of these "mat rempit" motor cyclists zoom in and out between the cars. Traffic is always bad down where we live and in the morning it is worse. Then along comes our motor cycle daredevils who speed through the centre between the cars as if there was a special lane just for them. There have been so many accidents I wonder aren't they just a teeny weeny bit afraid for their own lives? But it seems not because every day we'll see them - anywhere in KL. At night, when you think at last you can get peace and quiet, the silence will be broken by the shrieking of their motor cycles- piercing the night air with the roar of their exhaust pipe.

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