Murder Love Thy Neighbour

This incident happened on Saturday, 22nd January 2005. I probably should've blogged about this earlier, but I remember a wise saying:-

"Don't make promises while in extreme joy...
Don't write anything while in extreme anger..."

Since I've cooled down a bit, here goes...

Saturday was my sister's birthday. She turned 14. She's my only little sister and she's a sweet little princess. I sent her on a birthday outing with her neighbourhood friends to Ampang Point. A few hours later, she called to get me to pick them up.

I picked them up from Ampang Point. The girls were chatting happily about their outing and were merrily laughing while I drove them home. I reached a t-junction. I had to turn right to get to our destination. I'm a careful driver and I was being EXTRA cautious because not only was I driving my little sister home, I had two other young passengers in the car - Other people's daughters.

I looked right, I looked left and I looked right again. The coast was clear, so I carefully turned right. Suddenly, a bright red car ZOOooommms past me, and swerves into the lane, speeding against oncoming traffic which honked wildly at him.

I had absolutely NO idea where he came from. But I correctly assumed that he must have been trying to avoid hitting me. I repeat, I had absolutely NO idea where he came from. The car was fire-engine red - I could not possibly have missed it while checking if the coast was clear.

"Where did he come from?" I asked the girls. They were in silent shock.
"From hell" said a very stunned birthday girl.
Indeed, the dude was a speed demon and I was just glad that he didn't hit us.

So I regained my composure and drove on towards home. The girls slowly started chatting again.

Suddenly, I heard a loud VVVRRROoOOOmmmm.

I looked in my rearview mirror and I saw the same red car speeding towards me. My heart dropped into my stomach. Here I have three young girls in my car, and I HAD to face a road bully.

He sped towards me and stayed inches behind me. He was SOOOO close, that if I slowed down even a LITTLE bit, he would've banged me and I could sue him for intentionally causing an accident, reckless endangerment and whiplash. But I cautiously drove at a steady speed while my heart was racing and I silently sent a prayer to God to protect the little girls under my care.

The red car swerved into the right lane, and aligned itself next to my car. I looked at the driver. His face was wrinkled up in fury and he fervently gestured for me to roll down my window. So I did.

My parents always told me that when faced with an aggressor, do NOT fight with aggression. And I was NOT about to jeopardize the safety of my sister and her friends.

"GILA KE? NAK MAMPUS KE? ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING??"
You're the one who was speeding in a residential area, jackass
"IF I HAD HIT SOMEONE, WHOSE FAULT WOULD THAT BE??!!!"
You were the one driving against oncoming traffic... that'd be YOUR fault, asshole

When a man is wrong and won't admit is, he always gets angry.
Thomas C. Haliburton

My sarcastic responses were left unsaid. I just sat there staring at him. I knew this boy. I actually KNEW this boy with his road-bully behaviour. And the girls in the backseat confirmed it when I heard them whispering his name.

So I looked him straight in the eye and said "Okay Shafiq. I'm sorry, SHAFIQ..."

The boy's face wrinkled with confusion. How the hell did this woman know his name?

"... Well... next time, when you're crossing the road, you'd better look where you're going..."
That was his parting shot before he sped off on his way... making a u-turn to get back towards where-ever it was he was heading.

"E eee... Dia patah balik semata-mata nak marah2 kat kita jer?" said one of the girls.
"Shafiq dah giler ker?" said another.

I could only heave a sigh of relief that the boy was gone. I coaxed the girls back into a normal conversation. NOTHING was going to spoil my sister's day. ESPECIALLY not that angry-young-man.

He's my neighbour. I went to school with his sister. His kakak and I share the same friends. She's a sweet, ladylike creature - think Upperclass Siti Nurhaliza (pijak semut tak mati)... So it was absolutely SHOCKING for me to have seen her brother act like a total brute.

No decent man would go out of his way to chase a car full of young girls just to scream obscenities at them. That's road bully behaviour.

And it also shows a complete lack of good sense because it was done in your own god-damn neighbourhood. The chances of your victim being your NEIGHBOUR is 90%. It could've been my MOM or my DAD and if that was the case, they'd drive straight to his parents and get him into serious trouble.

But it was just me. Little ol' me. All I did was speak to his sister about it and she was pretty stunned, to say the least.

I told my parents about this incident and they shook their heads in a mixture of amazement and fury. I spoke to my brothers about it and they clenched their jaws in anger. But eventually, I found myself laughing at the absurdity of it all.

The dude actually made the effort to turn back, speed up and give chase to a car full of young girls just to SCREECH his macho crap at them. My goodness. That's just pathetic. Pathetic and kinda amusing. He was in his own neighbourhood and he acted like that.

What if I had been the wife of the Imam who leads the prayers in the Masjid in front of his house? What if I had been the daughter of the Kelantan royals who live a minute away from his house? That would've been funny.

You are not angry with people when you laugh at them. Humor teaches tolerance.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965)

Humour aside, the behavior was uncalled for. If indeed it had been MY fault for not detecting a speeding, fire-engine red Evo sports car... I tender my sincerest apologies. But his behaviour was wayyyy out of line. This boy comes from a good family. His got good looks, a good education, and his family is affluent.

It just goes to show, that money can't buy manners.

Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)