Motorists along the Seremban-Lukut road were fuming in their vehicles while caught in a jam on Saturday as result of a stage in the Tour of Langkawi, which was routed through this road towards the beach area in Port Dickson.

 

Some vehicles were stalled in the jam for up to an hour as motorists tried to head towards Kuala Lumpur and Seremban.

Initially, these motorists must have felt that the interruption to the flow of traffic would not take more than a few minutes as police halted the flow at all traffic light junctions along the Seremban-Lukut road, a stretch notable for its profusion of such intersections.

When the jam stretched for up to 45 minutes, several motorists got out of their vehicles, barely able to keep their cool in the oppressive humidity of a noonday.

Some began to gesture in frustration at a helicopter that circled low overhead, muttering over the futility of authorities enjoying an aerial view of the jam without they being able to effect relief to the stalled on ground.

After an hour, the more resigned of the trapped motorists got out of their cars and stood on the divider of the road to watch in anticipation of the cyclists racing towards the beach area in Port Dickson.

Needless to say, the ones less placidly disposed declined to assuage their frustration by becoming spectators, preferring to make caustic comments on the apparent failure of the organisers to bring off a race without causing distress to users of the Seremban-Lukut road.

Almost inevitably, there were comments on tomorrow’s Tenang by-election and the opportunity it offered to free the country from benighted authorities who cause citizens to stew in their frustrations while they stage international event of dubious economic value.

The Tour of Langkawi, modeled on the famous Tour de France, has had a spotted history as a sports event in Malaysian cycling. It has been riddled with controversy in its organisation and financing.

It’s hard to see the event surviving for long should the balloting in Tenang tomorrow augur well for the possibility of political change in the country.