Area around my office-> Okay, as some of you have already been told, I am currently working as an intern in Hong Kong. To be exact, its a company in Shek Mun, Shatin (沙田石門).
So, there are a few ways to get to work. But most of it, I have to walk the final 100 meters from bus station/train station/shuttle bus station before I reach my office.
A little history before I begin on my main topic. The place was basically a former manufacturing block for Hong Kong when the Pearl of the Orient was a major exporter of manufactured goods before Mainland China emerge. When that happen, the place basically transform into offices for logistics companies and manufacturers who moved their site to the Mainland.Many of the tall buildings is what I call a "vertically accessible warehouse". Unlike warehouses in Malaysia which lie flat and spread wide on the ground, it is tall with 10 stories at least and goods are being transported to different levels with giant elevators.
Hence it is the sort of place where you see tall office buildings along with heavy vehicles around the place. Looks kind of odd to me when I first saw it.(Will talk more about it in my next entry)
The area around my office, heavy vehicles are common during peak hours.
Okay, I am getting to my topic now.
Because of the highly dense 'office population' in the place coupling with heavy traffic of trucks and trailers, zebra crossings are plentiful in this place. To get to my office from the bloody train station, I have to cross 5 crossings,all with traffic lights.
You know, traffic lights is not smart enough. They are programed to show red lights and green on a fixed 'schedule'.Hence you will probably see a bunch of Office Ladies/Office Uncles standing by the street when there are no traffic at all, because the traffic light is showing RED.
I was like....what the.....the road is straight and it is clear of traffic, and people stand there and wait .....5 minutes for the traffic light to turn green???
I mean, if it is in penang, People has already crossed the road by no time.
Okay,...I thought...maybe its because people here are more 'civilized' and they obey laws?????? So I, was like the other guy, waited there as well, as it would look odd if I cross the roads while others stand so still.
The worst part is you have consecutive red lights at the 3 crossings before you reach your office. It is Summer, and even in 830am, Hong Kong's sun could kill. So you would really like to get to the comfort of your office ASAP.
Then, once in a blue moon I was late for work (as in I was a few minutes away from 9am when I reach the train station.).When I reach the crossing.....gosh, ppl are standing by the road with no traffic at all just because of the stupid red lights. Now I realize that it looks civilized and stupid all at the same time.
I care not the red lights and rush cross the road (after making sure that the coast is clear of traffics).....and then......here is the point of the whole thing...people started following me crossing the road..!!!!
what the heck????
I was so stunned, I thought you guys are civilized my dear Hong Kong friends??? Why do you follow a Malaysian cross a road on a red light?
I did a few experiments about this day to day during lunch hour and after office hours.It seems that I am right: The Hongky, will be so obedient to the regulation when everybody else is obedient, but will be as reckless when somebody else did the first moves, at least when it comes to 'Jay Walking'(crossing the road illegally)
So it comes to the central question of this entry: Why does the Hongky cross the road when a Malaysian make the first move?
