Focus Focus: Degilnya!

I was driving through one of the busy, up-market areas in PJ (exact location pictured above) when I slowed down at the speed bump (as any conscientious driver should). Suddenly something struck my radar as being a little out of place. It was the speed bump itself. The effort it took to slow down traffic to allow pedestrians to cross—three bumps on either side, pedestrian crossing signs and road markers, even a row of barriers to stop drivers from making an illegal U-turn—made the entire exercise a vibrant definition of overkill.

Upon such a scene, as is my usual habit to recontextualise, I could see an analogy to represent the current state of the Malaysian development. Or at least our response to this development. Allow me to expand.

First, some basic arithmetic.

Malaya (and not Malaysia itself, mind you) gained independence (which actually means...?) from the British Empire 50 years ago come this August. Malaysia turns 44 come September. We are also 13 years away from achieving The Good Doctor's Vision 2020.

Yet what exactly is the state of Malaysia's development? From a legislative standpoint, we are still mired in an “Endless Emergency” state-of-mind, with the Internal Security Act (now justified for Bush’s so-called “War On Terror”) and the Official Secrets Act (most recently used to hide facts regarding toll concession agreements between the government of the day and toll operators) being two of the country’s most visibly draconian and outmoded laws. Where art thou, transparency?

From a civil standpoint, our municipal councils and city halls are still not entirely answerable (nor responsive?) to rate-payers, what with the supremos being political appointees rather than democratically elected (hence ultimately responsible to the people) officials—yet another vestigial redundancy inherited from a long gone era.

Let's not even get started about elections and the electoral process—that requires more than 600 words (not that the other points raised in the above require less).

But what has all of this got to do with the speed bump I was talking about? There is something about the eerily organic “growth” it had undergone (the “third bump” on each side of the road and the fancy array of barriers), that hints at an urban Malaysian spirit that is so frustratingly un-tameable, obstinate and incorrigible in the face of a seemingly benevolent developer (whose task is, of course, to make your trip to these places happen more smoothly to ensure continuous economic activity).

Actually... it’s all very simple. Just damn degil lah, we all, tak mau slow down even though diorang dah letak tiga goddamn speed bumps... tak nak jugak kasi makcik tu dengan anak kecik dia cross the road...

Anyway... Like I was saying earlier, there is a degil side to our psyches that manifests itself in the most unusual places, for all sorts of reasons. The drivers who refuse to stop at this pedestrian crossing is one. But there are also other, less seemingly mundane situations: the villagers of Kampung Berembang and Kampung Chubadak standing up against the almighty MPAJ-developer kampung-mowdown tag-team combo; the anti-toll hike protesters who tak takut kena hangkut in the Black Maria because they want Malaysians to ask and know what's the deal with these toll concession agreements (and why are they Official Secrets, anyway?) and many, many more. But maybe you are too degil to acknowledge it?

TEXT Fahmi Fadzil PHOTO Bright Lights At Midnight