I’ve lived and worked in KL my entire life. Over there, if you don’t have a car, you are basically a second-class citizen. You want to buy roti canai across the street? Good luck, must drive because crossing the road is like playing a real-life game of Frogger.
I just moved to Singapore for work a few weeks ago, and honestly? The infrastructure here is freaking insane.
Yesterday, I decided to walk from my place in Queenstown all the way to Tiong Bahru just to see if I could. Back home, if I attempted a 3km walk, I would 100% get into an accident. Either a Myvi will fly out of nowhere to claim my soul, or the footpath will suddenly disappear into a literal monsoon drain, leaving me stranded on a highway shoulder.
But here? Walao. Anywhere also got proper, continuous footpaths. Every major junction has traffic lights that actually work, and drivers here actually slow down when they see a zebra crossing (shocking concept, I know). Even when it started pouring cats and dogs, I realized I could just walk through the HDB void decks and covered walkways almost the entire way without opening my umbrella.
In KL, public transport is like a puzzle with missing pieces. The KTM, LRT, and MRT lines sometimes don’t even connect properly, and walking between them means sweating bullets on a dusty roadside. Here, the MRT feeds seamlessly into the bus interchanges, which feed into covered paths directly to your block.
I told my friends back home that I’ve been walking 12,000 steps every day and my legs are aching but my heart is happy. They think I’ve been brainwashed by my SG friends. But seriously, the sheer accessibility here is unmatched. You guys really take your urban planning for granted! Anyone else had this culture shock when they first moved?