Let's walk

This road should be pretty good.

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Talking about roads, which are for vehicles or any object that is self-propelled and is generally accepted to be on wheels, let's talk about pavements.

Pavements are also, in the most general manner, taken to be for the following, People walking, People strolling or even People running/jogging. Due to some ambiguous definitions or just some people, cyclists have come into the fray.

I walk to my office from the train station and it is a short stroll. Give and take 15 minutes or so of leisure walking and I'd be plonking my meatless ass on my chair, ready to laze work the day away.

However there are ALOT of cyclists out there that make use of the narrow pavements and pedestrian walkways to commute to their work place. Around my office are littered with production factories and plants and alot of the workers travel on bicycles.

For a moment you can tell yourself that it feels like in China.

I don't know what else to say but to write this:

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An open letter to all cyclists.

Dear Friends of the Two-Wheel Clan,

I am writing this to highlight the injustice and the frustrations that we have been suffering for a very long time.

I know that the Two-Wheel Clan (and your affiliated Three-Wheel Tricycle Clan and the young wing of the Four-Wheel (Junior) Clan) is a formidable and powerful society in Singapore and I respect that it is anyone's choice to join.

However, your members have been portraying a very negative image of the society by their unruly and roguish behaviour while they are involved in the said society's activities.

When they travel on pedestrian walkways they assume that all non Two-Wheel Clan members ("pedestrians") are obstructions and must give way as they are below the stature of the society's members. As they approach a pedestrian from the rear, they will ring their bell incessantly, like a Taoist Master ringing his mythical bell to chase away the Chinese Zombies ("Jiang Shi"), expecting the pedestrian to get out of the way to allow the member to pass.

This behaviour is unbecoming.

The walkway is so called a pedestrian walkway is simply because it is meant for pedestrians. Two-Wheel Clan members have to understand that they cannot expect the pedestrians to get out of the way all of the time.

Many a times, on narrow walkways, the society member would ring his bell impatiently and wait for the pedestrian to walk off the pavement and onto the grass so as to let them through, all without a word of thanks.

In my 27 years of existential creation, I have only experienced one of your members conferring me a word of thanks as they cycle pass me. Surely it is not much to ask for a more gracious society?

As much as we give way out of courtesy (though more out of compelled decisions), we hope that your members will exercise courtesy and a sound sense of judgement.

Areas of Pasir Ris (among many others), have pioneered a new infrastructure where a special red cycling lane is paved specially for your members so that chances of the the beforementioned incidents will be reduced. Sad to say, it has met with little success. Many of your society members still cycle on the pedestrian walkway, defiant to the common logic and continue to ring their bells at common folks.

This cannot go on.

I beseech your members to rethink their conduct else it will only be a matter of time before we strike back. Already there are whispers that some of us will form a human barricade while listening to loud music on ipods so as to impede the travels of your members. And that is only the start. I heard keywords like "thumbtacks", "nails" and "sabotage" being carried around.

We must fix it before blood is shed.

Please, reconsider your conduct.

Your Sincerely,
Bao
Member of the Common Pedestrian Society.