Soon after arriving in Malaysia back in 2000 I remember heading for the malls and commenting on the lack of strollers being used compared to the UK. In KL it seemed that if the child was capable of walking then typically it was allowed to run about otherwise a parent or maid carried them.
Over the past 11 yrs the quality of life in KL seems to have improved with more and better models of cars Another byproduct of the increase in wealth is now a new menace for walkers to look out for in previously safe places.
A recent observation I made having been dragged around Ikea a few too many times was the increase in numbers of strollers being used compared to a just few years ago. Now the problem I have with this is that the parents often treat the stroller like they treat their Kancil (small malaysian car) which results in either myself getting run over or it left in the middle of the walking way causing a jam of walkers and more strollers. Furthermore the stroller craze is causing lifts to be full and dangerous balancing acts on escalators to take place.
As any visitor or resident knows, the driving and parking habits KL are pretty bad and these will only get worse as the young kids that are strapped into the strollers are influenced at a young age by their inconsiderate parents.
The roads and pavements in KL are not really conducive to walking so probably the only safe places to walk were the gargantuan malls scattered around the klang valley however this haven is now under threat due to the ‘Mat stroller’ crew invasion.
Another thing that really stumps me is that people will happily pay out for a fancy stroller but when it comes to kids car seats they shy away. The number of kids I see sitting on parents laps including the drivers, not strapped in or even hanging out of sunroofs on MPV’s beggars belief and the parents just don’t seem to grasp the risk of serious or fatal injury that can occur if an accident were to happen.
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