So good to see MBJB in action!

 

“Terima Kasih!” I shouted repeatedly through the drizzle to the Majlis Bandaraya Johor Baru (MBJB) officer who was guiding the tow-truck operator to adjust the tow mechanism under the car it was about to tow away.

 

The loud honk from the MBJB tow-truck
attracted much attention along Jalan Trus

When he finally heard me and responded, I took the opportunity to ask him, how often he would be doing this and he replied, “Banyak kali,” meaning ‘many times’ and I again, thanked him for his good work.

 

I have long insisted that errant drivers who parked indiscriminately in the heart of the city needed to be educated and encouraged to use proper parking places instead of parking on double Yellow Lines and obstructing other road users.

 

Recently, I was in Downtown Johor Baru again and I was more than pleased to observe how the Johor Baru City Council was taking a serious view of indiscriminate parking along roads, road shoulders and pavements.

 

Remember: NO PARKING
on Double Yellow Lines

It was a shame to see drivers of sophisticated, high-powered cars, complete with tinted glass windows, boldly trying to park half-way across raised pavements on the Tan Hiok Nee Heritage Walk – directly in my path on that pavement – so I had no alternative but to wave my pointed finger at the driver to indicate that, “This was not done.”

 

I could not see the driver through the heavily tinted glass but I am sure he/she could see me. And he/she then reversed and decided not to park in my path.

 

As efforts are made to make the city more walkable, it was an absolute shame to see the pavements occupied by parked cars that were obstructing pedestrians and tourists on walking tours.

 

While construction and improvements on the city roads are constantly in progress, it is important that vehicle owners DO NOT contribute to the road congestion.

 

In 2013 – ten years ago – I had written about such Demon Drivers (Streets Johor, The New Straits Times, 5 Nov 2013) and concluded that these drivers had no consideration for other road users and were simply too lazy to walk a distance from the parking lot or too stingy to pay parking fees.

 

In City Parking Woes (Streets Johor, The New Straits Times, 21 Nov 2013), I highlighted the city’s appalling traffic issues and how poor enforcement was allowing errant drivers to ignore the traffic/parking rules and continue making a mockery of the authorities.

 

I thanked this officer for a job well done

Finally, in 2023, TEN years later I witnessed the City Council tow truck doing its job to remove illegally parked cars from the road sides in our city centre.

 

The truck sounded its loud, attention-grabbing honk (several times!) to warn drivers to quickly remove their illegally parked vehicles from the road sides or risk being towed away.

 

After giving fair warning, the tow truck then proceeded to do its job to remove the vehicles, one by one.

 

Ready to tow away an illegally parked car

So when the errant drivers discovered their cars were gone from where they were illegally parked, they would probably curse and swear (first!) but they certainly KNOW that the City Council had done their job to remove these illegally parked vehicles.

 

There are proper parking places in the city and it was just a matter of the drivers’ attitude who choose to ignore the rules and decided to park wherever thought they could.

 

While it is even more convenient to use the cashless method of a cash-card to park at various carparks in the city, why not make use of this facility?

 

I am optimistic that the City Council will persevere in their effort to keep our roads free from illegally parked vehicles and encourage drivers to be more considerate to park at the right places and not let their vehicles obstruct other road users, especially emergency vehicles like Fire Engines and Ambulances.

 

Towed away ...

With throngs of visitors returning to our heritage quarter, it would be a total disaster for our city if emergency vehicles were not able to make their way to do their rescue jobs in case of any emergencies because of your illegally parked vehicles.

 

Once again, Banyak Terima Kasih – Thank You Very Much, to the Johor Baru City Council tow truck team for helping to educate and encourage drivers to park their vehicles at the proper parking places in the city.

 

It had been years since we were plagued by parking woes in the city but it is never too late to educate and encourage every generation of drivers to obey traffic rules.

 

Thank You, Johor Baru City Mayor and the Johor State Government authorities.

 

Keep up your good work in enforcing the rules for a better tomorrow!

 

To the people of Johor – who pride ourselves as Bangsa Johor – it is not impossible to set the fine example as an inclusive community where everyone has the right to use public facilities like our city roads, pavements and back-lanes while presenting a more welcome and walkable network of roads to visitors and pedestrians in Downtown Johor Baru.

 

Come on, Anak Johor. We can do this together!