Monday, June 01, 2009

Learn from Miri

I went to Miri on last Friday, May 29, to attend the fund raising dinner organized by the DAP Miri Branch.


I like Miri, a city with a population of only 30,000, since the first time I visited this serene town sometime 10 years ago. The Miri airport is just 10-minute drive from the city center and I love the shady raintrees along the way.


The town centre is small by any standard of a city but the streets are almost impeccably clean and neat. The road users are relatively patient compared to those in other cities in Malaysia.


I noticed that the tarmac surfacing the road in then city seems to be containing high composition of tar. The road surface are therefore shining especially at night. It also absords noise from the friction between the tyres and the road.


This always reminds me of my first impression of Washington D.C. upon my arrival there in 1996. I was wondering why the streets in Washington D.C. were relatively quite despite the busy traffic. After some observations, I concluded that it must be due to the high content of tar in the tarmac.

When I came back on Saturday morning, I made a special observation on our roads here in West Malaysia. I think I am right though it may sound unscientific.



The only regret is that I always spend less than 24 hours in Miri. I promise myself that I will spend more time in my next trip and perhaps I will also travel to Mulu Cave.


Meanwhile, let us learn from Miri, especially the Municipal Councils like Klang. A trip to Miri will help.