Size... matters?

Take a look at this map of Malaysia which I stumbled upon at the Kuala Terengganu airport.

Notice anything weird about it?







Maybe this is not such a good example.



Try this next one, which was published on the front page of a national English daily.

Notice anything yet? No?

Okay, now try this little billboard. Look for the Malaysian map on it.

Here's a close-up:

Get my point yet?

Such misrepresentations - Sabah and Sarawak being made to look smaller than Peninsular Malaysia - are everywhere.

Would you believe there are even some people who think distorted maps like these represent reality?

A friend of mine from Pahang once claimed her state was bigger than Sabah.

This was until I pointed out to her that Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia, with the largest being Sarawak, and that Pahang is only the largest state in the peninsula.

While we're at it, let's have a little geographical facts about Malaysia:

According to VirtualMalaysia, Malaysia has a total area of 329, 847 sq km.

I can't find the total area of Peninsular Malaysia or East Malaysia anywhere on the site so let's do some math using some information from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia says Sarawak has a total area of 124, 450 sq km while Sabah has a total area of 76, 115 sq km.

So that means East Malaysia as a whole covers a total area of 200, 565 sq km.

That leaves Peninsular Malaysia with 129, 282 sq km.

Now compare the sizes of Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia... quite close no?

Then how is it that some idiots can still screw it up when they draw the maps?

If you wanna enlarge the peninsula for some reason, then put a bloody disclaimer there to say that the map is EXAGGERATED!

Otherwise, it's MISLEADING!

And sometimes it's not just the maps...

Ever hear commercials that go: "We have branches nationwide" and when you check, they only have branches in the peninsula?

Or the ones that go, "Available throughout Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak."

Does that mean Sabah and Sarawak are not included when they say "throughout Malaysia?"

Granted, the only people who realise these things (and get offended by them) are the East Malaysians.

The reason is probably this: Our part of the country is being belittled literally.

And you wanna know the saddest part about all this?

These "crimes" are not just committed by private companies. The Government is equally guilty.

Just look at these maps on Tourism Malaysia's website.

In its Map Resources page, this is what the map of Malaysia looks like.

And then, they have a "detailed map" of Malaysia that looks like this.


You even find something similar in the Prime Minister's Office's website under "States of Malaysia."

Is the East side of the country that much of a threat to the West that it has to have its size reduced to accommodate the West?

Is it not bad enough that Sabah and Sarawak are referred to as the "less developed states" in VirtualMalaysia?

Until these mistakes are corrected, I think there can never be any true equality in this country of ours.

And we haven't even touched on the racial topic yet.

Driving in the Peninsula....

They say a yawn is contagious.

Apparently so is stupidity. Okay, maybe I'm being a little harsh. A more appropriate word might be ignorance.

I was driving back to KL on the North-South Expressway after going out of town for the Raya weekend.

My journey started around 6pm and of all the luck, it had to rain. REALLY heavy at certain parts.

I think the weather took a lot of people by surprise because there were several accidents along my journey back for both sides of the highway.

Anyway, with the heavy rain, some idiots just had to turn on their hazard lights.

It's really outrageous how these people expect everyone around them to be mind-readers; as it is, it's already hard enough to see in the heavy rain, now we have to guess where these idiots are going since both their left AND right indicators are on.

And just when u see ONE car with their hazard lights on, suddenly another idiot who sees this decides to follow suit.

One particular car (it had a Singaporean plate; no offence to you people down south!) was so indecisive that the driver first decided to turn on his (or her) hazard lights upon seeing another idiot who turned on his (or hers).

And moments later, for some reason, he decides to turn it off.

And then much later, lo and behold, he turned his hazard lights on again!

The only consolation yesterday was probably when I flashed my high beam at this Johor-registered car in front of me who had his hazard lights on.

Instead of veering left immediately to give way, he actually thought of turning off his hazard lights first before turning his left indicator on to go to the left lane.

Of course, one possible factor could be because he had to overtake an express bus. He probably was smart enough to think about not wanting to become another statistic.

Another thing that really got to me was this - idiots who leave their lights on high beam throughout their drive.

I really think these people are the most inconsiderable drivers and should be banned from driving. Not only is this a pain for oncoming vehicles, those in front of these idiots are also on the receiving end of their inconsiderable act.

Whenever I encounter these idiots, I really wish I had spotlights installed on my car facing the back so that I could just give them a taste of their own medicine (and probably blind them in the process).

Seriously, driving in West Malaysia really makes a person more aggresive. No wonder there are so many cases of road rage, just look at all these idiots on the road!

You have:

a) the idiots who turn on their hazard lights in the rain, expecting everyone to guess when they're gonna turn left or right.

b) the idiots who leave their headlights on high beam, blinding everyone in their path

c) the idiots who tailgate you like mad and flash their high beam at you to tell you to get out of their way knowing well that there's an express bus or trailer on the left.

d) the idiots who tailgate you anyway when you're on the left lane.

Heck these are just some of the reasons why I find it much more relaxing to drive back home in Sabah.

To all of you drivers out there, especially those taking long drives during this Raya season, don't be stupid...err, I mean ignorant.

Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf Zahir Batin....