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Can Malaysians queue?

If you're ever coming in to Malaysia via Singapore, one of the most drastic differences you'd spot between the two vastly similar countries is the queueing system, especially when waiting for public transport.

You may think that I'm joking, but hey, most Malaysians just can't queue! Just look at the picture below. Perhaps, it's because these bus stations do not have a very good platform system, so these people have no idea where to start standing (duh!). What's not helping is that, these buses also do not have a fixed timetable and you'll never know which bus would go first (no the first bus in the line is not always the first to go).


But, even if you and your friends were to deliberately start a queue by standing neatly in a line (I have tried this experiment before), those who come after you would just hang around on your left, right, or loosely behind you, if not in front of you.

And when the driver is spotted walking towards the bus, these people will all rush to the door from all kinds of directions - EVEN if there were a somewhat half-formed queue before that.

However, you may see people queueing like good boys and girls on some train platforms; but look further, there bound to be a security guard or police on special duty - to make sure that they queue!

I'm not quite sure why this is still happening here. I grew up here and we were trained to queue in school: morning assemblies, getting in to classrooms, getting food, etc. So you can't exactly say that we weren't taught how to do that. Every now and again I will see playschool children walking in queues on field trips, so I gathered they still teach that in school. But once out of school, all disciplines are out and into the bin. Maybe one day, when I finally return to my own planet with these research findings, some of my supreme beings could help me unmask the mystery.
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Anonymous said…
HAHAHAHAHA! No They can't, they dunno how, they don't, they just won't!
3 May 2010 at 22:27
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