Me Chinese, You Also Chinese....

I was recently involved in a little accident. As I was reversing my car, I didn't realize that another car had suddenly parked itself behind me. I had looked at my rear mirror and not seen anything. Earlier I had also turned my head to do a quick scan of my back. Somehow, within the time I engaged my gear and reversed my car, that car appeared and parked itself behind mine. And so, I bumped into the car; a small dent some, scratch marks. It was my mistake but just as it was mine, it was also the other driver's fault for parking his car, in his own words, just momentary so that he could get back onto the main road, on the side of the road, with a white line that means no parking there...

I explained to this young driver that I had not seen him. When he said I was at fault, I agreed and said I will pay for the repairs. I told him to send his car to my regular workshop for the repair but he refused because he said his father owned a car repainting workshop. Not at any time during our conversation did I indicate that I was not going to pay for the damages. Anyway, to cut the long story short.... one of the thing that got me cheesed off was when he quoted the amount to pay him. I felt it was way too high. And so I said we might as well make a police report. Then I asked him again to quote me something more reasonable and he immediately brought it down quite substantially.

To add salt on the wound, the father had the cheek to say that since we're both Chinese, he was quoting a reasonable rate. I have some expletives which I would very much like to use but I shall refrain myself here. Bah humbug! To me, he was just an opportunistic vulture but since I felt I was wrong it was only right that I compensated him. Chinese and Chinese, Indians and Indians, Malays and Malays... or Christians and Christians, Muslims and Muslims... If it's not one, then it's the other. When opportunity presents itself, all will clamber to get the biggest pie for themselves. It does not matter what colour your skin is or faith you subscribe to. Even in church (of all places), I see leaders reserving 'service' for their own. Cos when we create a similarity, it's like we have this understood pact that we'll watch out for each other. But often too, this becomes an opportunity for own 'profit'.

So did both of us being Chinese really matter? If it had mattered then he would have been fairer in his quotation cos his father owned a car repainting shop and it would have cost him way less to repaint the scratch marks. It would have cost me more to send his car to my regular workshop. Had he really been oozing with kindness, he would have just quote me his cost! An opportunist will always be an opportunist... They see everything in terms of opportunity, then more opportunity. Everything is fair game to be used as opportunity for more opportunities....

This is racial Malaysia. We are so imbued with racism that when we see our own kind, we will take in that sort of tune... A couple of weeks ago, I saw on YouTube how a Malay chap tried to steak a motorbike that belonged to a Malay guard at a shopping complex in Kelana Jaya. But this video has since been made private. As the guard beat up the Malay chap, he yelled at him how could a Malay do that to a Malay. See how screwed up us Malaysians are... for everything we will run back to the race card, we make excuses for our race, we insist our rights because we are a certain race... never ending opportunities.

We, Malaysians are really sesat.... made sesat by our leaders who have been reinforcing this notion of race. It's either that or God must have screwed up when he created us in different colours so that the colours can be used against each other.

As for my car, the damage was worse than his. But what to do, it was more of my fault than his. And one more thing... My reverse sensor was beeping away when I was reversing. I thought it had gone cuckoo again which it has been doing a few months after I bought the Alza. It ever so often gives out uninhibited beeps. I paid the price for thinking that it had malfunctioned yet again. This is yet another example of how our local car industry has compromised the quality of our cars. We pay for products heavily protected and with compromised quality.

Oh ya! Vultures come in different colours, sizes and shapes... They see other dead creatures, they zoom in and get fed. Survival... But at least they prey on dead ones. Human vultures are different....