COMMENT | Reporting from my car, these are… exciting times

COMMENT | Today begins the first day of the campaign trail - as nomination day kicks off.

“Exciting times,” I find myself shooting back when asked about tackling my first general election as both a reporter and registered voter.

There is a sense of numbness as I say it. I can’t say I’m wholly unfamiliar with the election process. In March, I had a brief flirtation with the Johor state polls - before, let’s face it, I was down with Covid-19.

But, thinking back to it, my memory - maybe impaired by the wicked “flu” of our times - conjures not much.

Sure, there was the singing along to Zainal Abidin’s ‘Hijau’ as I sped on trunk roads to Pagoh, and my poor imitation of an insurance salesperson as I tried and failed to approach new voters in malls and along the Muar waterfront.

Lucky for me, I will be covering the Klang Valley this time around, a terrain way more familiar to me.

‘I’m in love with my car’

In other news, I recently got my first car - an exciting “lady in red” - whom I have been driving every day since I got a hold of it.

Being a simpleton, my knowledge of cars goes no further than playing driving simulations as a kid and watching Jeremy Clarkson take apart a national car (if you can find the video, know that Malaysia does, in fact, have a “flying car”).

To say the least, it’s been a great thrill to be behind my new wheel. In fact, now I understand what Queen drummer, Roger Taylor was going on about in the song ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, in their 1975 ‘A Night at the Opera’ album, in which part of the lyrics goes as follows:

I'm in love with my car,

Got to feel for my automobile,

Get a grip on my boy racer roll bar,

Such a thrill when your radials squeal,

Told my girl I'll have to forget her,

Rather buy me a new carburettor,

So she made tracks,

Saying this is the end now,

Cars don't talk back,

They're just four-wheeled friends, now.

The blond-haired, blue-eyed drummer even includes the revving noises of his then-car, an Alfa Romeo, as the song fades out.

“I remember my car at the time, because I think we’ve got the exhaust on the record, and that was a little Alfa Romeo.

“But I think it was more about people in general, for instance, boy racers. In particular, we had a sound guy/roadie at the time called Jonathan Harris, who was in love with his car, and that inspired that. I think he had a TR4, Triumph TR4,” Taylor was quoted as saying in a 1997 interview.

Rolling in the royalties, the drum-heavy song was placed as a B-side to Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury’s magnum opus, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (talk about antara dua darjat!).

The song later became a source of tension for the band - as ‘Rhapsody’ generated an equal share of the dough for Taylor’s song.

Prior to its release, Taylor had urged Mercury to allow it on the B-side of the record and locked himself in a cupboard, until Mercury caved into the idea.

Reporting from my car

Back to my humble life, I still don’t know what a carburettor is but I do know having my own car makes my job as a reporter working in Kuala Lumpur so much easier – if you take petrol, parking and toll cost aside.

No longer am I subject to the incessant price hikes and instability of a Grab ride and the 11pm cut-off times of LRT/MRT services.

Being sent out on assignments is also now less of a stressful affair. During the Johor polls, I was forced to get a rental car - which served me, an inexperienced driver, well.

The reality is, for the average person, our public transport system is not reliable and efficient enough to encourage my fellow Malaysians to give up on car culture.

Colombia's Gustavo Petro, an economist and former guerrilla fighter who in June was elected his country's first leftist president, was often quoted as saying, “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”

And I’m very much inclined to agree with Petro. As much as I love my car, the forced reliance on it is not an aspect I am keen on, nor is the environmental impact it has on our already wilting Earth.

In the new Pakatan Harapan manifesto, public transport woes were identified as an issue that plagues all segments of our society.

“Efficient, accessible, affordable, and well-maintained public transportation for all segments of society is the dream of every citizen, regardless of origin.

“However, the prioritisation of private vehicle ownership in Malaysia has disrupted and neglected the development of our public transportation infrastructure.

“Consequently, Malaysians are forced to depend on private vehicles due to the government’s failure in providing efficient public transportation, especially in Klang Valley and other cities,” it said, stressing its commitment to expanding public transportation coverage and reducing pollution and fuel dependency.

According to the manifesto, it looks to ensure that 80 percent of urban areas will have bus stops and train stations within 10 minutes of walking distance - with waiting times for such services not exceeding more than 10 minutes.

This sounds like a fever dream I’m willing to be trapped in but if I am waiting for Harapan - whose MPs have more often than other coalitions spoken up about environmental issues - to get in and take up the gauntlet, there is a chance that I may be waiting another five years to see it in practice.

Even then, we all know that manifestos in this country are often thrown out the window once coalitions come into power - sometimes through stubborn, uncooperative ministers and no fault of its other high-performing MPs.

Beyond protests and petitions, we often sit at the mercy of these politicians.

Sigh. One can only hope that these are exciting times.

ALENA NADIA is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

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

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