100% Penang: Life in Penang, Part 1

The Drivers

Lanes drawn on the roads doesn’t play any significance in bordering the fast/slow lanes. It’s just for show. Penang drivers are famous for floating between lanes for no reason and without signaling.

There is no such thing as a fast or slow lane. If you need to speed, you’ll have to weave thru the traffic.

Penangites take the phrase “Bumper-to-Bumper” really seriously. They’re so “kiasu” about their current position on the road that they’ll drive as close as possible to the car ahead, so that you can’t squeeze in from the other lane.

In Malaysia, we drive on the left side of the road but in Penang, they drive on the other side during a traffic jam and sometimes condemning in-coming traffic for not moving out of their way.

Among Penangites, all road rules and signs such as yellow lines, double yellow lines, no entry signs and so on have no meaning whatsoever and it only acts as a hideous-looking street décor.

An ambulance passing by during a traffic jam is seen as a blessing to most drivers. All the “kiasus” will be speeding and tailgating the ambulance, pretending to be “involved” with whatever that’s going on in order to skip the jam.

Ref: Kiasu means "affraid to lose" if translated directly. "An asshole" would be more accurate. Actually, a mixture of both.