Driving in Malaysia is not for the faint of heart. People here have compared it to driving in Italy, I think this is terribly unfair to the Italians. In any event we have bravely taken to roads, well Ian has and I've been his panicky passenger. The biggest hazard is by far the motorbikes of which there are many and all are reckless. I was informed by a colleague of Ian's last night that you will see an average of one dead motorcyclist a month on the highways. There is zero regard for pretty much all rules of the road - we've already witnessed someone driving down in the interstate in the wrong direction. I'm in serious doubt that turn signals even exist in this part of the world.
We went car shopping the other day and I was shocked to learn that airbags are an optional extra (so is ABS). We know someone else who bought a secondhand car and had to install seatbelts himself. Cars here are quite expensive particularly when you compare the cost of them to the relatively low incomes of the vast majority of people. Duty fees on imported cars are positively exorbitant, it is not unheard of to hear of people taking out 25 year loans for cars. Needless to say, we will be buying Malaysian and this is what we have settled on:
People who own these seem to be pleased with them and they have a Toyota engine, so at least that bit should work. We will of course be going 'Premium' with ABS and airbags.
Screw the car, by a tank!
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