LETTER | Zebra crossings are there in many places in Malaysia, but whether it is followed strictly is questionable.

Generally, in Malaysia, motorists care two hoots about its existence. To put it bluntly, zebra crossing's novel of purpose is non-existent.

Even today, as I was trying to use the zebra crossing to cross the road in Kuala Lumpur, none of the motorists had the decency to stop.

One motorist even had the audacity to honk at me, meaning directly asking me to get out of the way.

Anyone who dares to cross the road, assuming that the motorist would slow down and stop, is in for a rude shock. One could even face the risk of being run over!

The first thing that tourists to Malaysia should be told is to be extra careful at zebra crossings, as nobody adheres to it.

Respect pedestrians

As Malaysians, we can be identified very conspicuously when we are tourists in a foreign country.

One way is because we use the word “lah” very often.

Another is our hesitation to cross at the zebra crossing, looking left and right to see if cars are on the road; when in fact what takes place is that the vehicles will slow down and stop to give way to the pedestrians.

It is rather disturbing to know that Malaysians, with our first-world infrastructure and modern highways, are lagging behind even now, where the basic crossing rights of pedestrians are not given due consideration.

Isn't this also a form of bullying? It is high time that the culture of ignoring the zebra crossing be looked into more seriously.

Surely, it is not a monumental task to educate local motorists to be more civic-minded.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.