Jammed

Our journey to Melaka last night was marked by its fair share of jams and slow-moving traffic. We originally thought we might arrive around 9.30 pm. In the event it was well passed 11.00 pm when we found ourselves lurching through the gate of Mak's house. Indeed, we have had acquaintance of quite a number of jams lately in relation to journeys to and within Malaysia. It seems to be the season for them.

The most irritating of these though by a country mile and a half have been the three times we have found ourselves held up by the police directing traffic the last three occasions we've tried to get to Times Square from Bukit Antarabangsa. The place we've been held up has been a traffic junction, though a different one each time. Each time I've been puzzled by the logic of the coppers' behaviour - stopping a stream of traffic for something like twenty-five minutes whilst allowing the other stream to run freely to the point that it has dried up. What reason can there be for deliberately creating a tailback of jammed roads? Each time the reason has suddenly been made clear as a convoy of 'official' cars breezes through, blue lights flashing, escorts accompanying. Yes, another Very Important Person has been driven effortlessly along to his next Very Important Appointment, whilst ordinary citizens stare at the Times Square building, and wonder whether they'll arrive there by morning.